The Land Before Time: the Return of Sharptooth
by Red Eyes Black Dragon Master
Summary: It seemed like a normal day for Littlefoot and the gang, but an old enemy has returned. This enemy, the only one to have ever been a serious threat to the valley. He wants revenge. It's Littlefoot's biggest adventure ever, how can he beat the unstoppable?
1. The Morning

**The Land Before Time: the Return of Sharptooth**

**The Morning**

His left eye blinked in the bright sunlight. As he pushed himself up from the ground after a nights sleep, the great circle was beginning to rise and its rays were already peaking over the mountains. He stretched his legs out, working out the stiffness in his muscles. He moved his great eye toward the west, and saw the mountains known as the "Great Wall", as the plant-eaters called it. Beyond that, the Great Valley. That was his destination. Today, he would finally reach it, and once there, kill that insolent little longneck.

He started off, the earth shaking with each foot fall. He even looked down and saw the rock crack beneath his talons. Such power he felt coursing through his body, and as her grew closer and closer to the Great Valley he could only feel his excitement grow. Deep in his gullet, he felt a rumbling. He hadn't eaten anything for several days, as he was hoping to feast on the flesh of the young longneck. But now, he knew that he needed food. Even if just a little bit to hold him over until he got to the Valley.

Lifting his head into the air, he took in a deep breath, scenting the air. In the distance, a scent of another predator. Three of them, actually. As he continued to smell, he found that two of them were fast-biters, the third was a sharptooth like him. Fresh meat. He twitched his tail and tapped his two finger claws together in anticipation. He began moving again, faster this time. Following the scent of prey.

He came to rocks jutting up from the ground, creating a small wall. But the spaces between the rocks was enough to see. Peaking between the rocks with his only good eye, he saw the three carnivores. Finally getting close enough, he could hear the sounds of the three other carnivores growling amongst themselves.

Completely oblivious to his presence. Such a shame to the name that he himself had given to their race. The superior race. Calling on the power in his legs, he pushed against the ground and jumped over the rocks. Landing with a loud crash on the other side, cracking the rocks beneath his feet. He roared a terrific roar, loud enough to split the heavens.

The largest sharptooth snarled back at him, a light brown sharptooth with a horrific red scar going from his left eye down his arm and to his claw which actually made said claw red. "Who are you?" he growled. "Why are you here? This is our territory!"

"Your territory? Really, then I guess if I'm going to stay here then I'll just have to kill you."

"Kill me? HA! Do you know who you're talking to? I'm Redclaw! The deadliest sharptooth alive." Redclaw snarled. "No way a second rate lowlife like you can fight me and win."

"Then it's a good thing I'm no second rate, isn't it?" He opened his right eye slightly, showing the pale white eye beneath stricken with red veins. An eye that had been blinded long ago by a hatchling longneck with a thorn.

Redclaw looked over this new opponent, noting the deep green skin, his impressive size, and now coupled with this blind right eye. It was like a sky flash had gone off in his mind. Only one sharptooth was this big with such an eye. "No. That's impossible. You're supposed to be dead!"

A large toothy grin crept across the green sharptooth's face "You'd like that, wouldn't you? Then you really would be the best around. You, a pitiful disgust compared to the real thing, would've been the strongest sharptooth. But no, I still hold that title." He charged, mouth open and teeth ready to tear flesh. He was ready to taste blood.

"Hey, Chomper!" Littlefoot shouted into the cave. "Come on, Chomper! Ruby! Were are you?"

"Were coming!" Chomper shouted back. From the darkness, a small purple sharptooth came dashing toward the longneck. Behind him, a pink fast-runner came up behind. "What's everyone shouting about?"

"We've found a cave in the Great Wall. We're going to go inside and look around. Are you two coming?" Littlefoot asked.

"Yeah, of coarse." Chomper leapt to the ground, followed by Ruby. They fell in step behind Littlefoot.

"Hey, Littlefoot. Where is everyone else?" Ruby asked.

"They're already there, waiting for us." Littlefoot answered. "I just came back to get you two."

The three of them ran together until they found the new cave. Stepping inside, they walked down into the darkness. "Hey, Cera! Ducky, Petrie, Spike! Where are you guys?"

"Down here, Littlefoot!" Cera's voice called back. "We found something!"

"What?" Littlefoot shouted back.

"Just hurry up!" Cera screamed.

Littlefoot, Chomper, and Ruby ran deeper into the cave. A sliver of light appeared at the end. Standing near the opening at the back of the cave were Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike. "What is it?" Littlefoot asked.

"Look." Cera motioned to the opening. Littlefoot walked over and stuck his head out. ON the other side, leaning against the mountain side was a single fast-biter. Screech.

"Aaahh!" Littlefoot shouted. He pulled his head back. "Let's get out of here!"

"Wait a minute." Ducky said. "Look at Screech. He looks hurt. Yes he does, yep, yep, yep."

Chomper walked over to the cave opening and stuck his head out. Indeed, Screech's left leg was dragging on the ground, leaving a trail of red behind it. His arm was dangling in a painful manner, a gash was cut across his back, bruises all over his face, and blood dripped from his mouth.

Chomper growled and clicked his teeth, speaking in sharptooth speech. As he talked, Screech growled and snarled back, until the fast-biter suddenly just collapsed. He sputtered and blood splashed from his mouth, before finally lying still. Chomper pulled his head back in and turned to the others. "He's dead."

"Dead?!" Ruby shouted. "What did he say?"

"He said, 'Help us. It's HIM. He's come back.'" Chomper said.

"Whose back?" Petrie asked. "Who are we talking about?"

"Um." Spike replied.

"We need to tell the grown-ups about this." Littlefoot said.


	2. End of Redclaw

**End Of Redclaw**

The Great Valley, a peaceful place were dinosaurs of many different species have come to live in harmony with one another. In such a place, the longnecks tower above the others and eat the leaves from the tops of trees which no other animal can reach. Two great longnecks, known to all simply and Grandma and Grandpa longneck, grazed from a tree by the watering hole. Below them in a clearing, Topsy, the resident three horn, was instructing his youngest hatching, Tricia, on proper charging techniques.

"Now, remember, Tricia. Keep your head down so that the horns face completely forward. Yeah, your getting better." He said, watching the small pink three horn try. Grandma and Grandpa longneck giggled slightly. "What's so funny?"

"Just watching you." Grandpa longneck said. "At your age its amazing you can still be that patient with a hatchling."

"Grandma! Grandpa!" A familiar voice shouted. Turning their heads, they saw Littlefoot and the gang running up toward them.

"Littlefoot! What seems to be the matter?" Grandpa longneck asked.

Tricia ran up passed her father and strait to Cera. "Cera!" She screamed, nuzzling her head against the leg of her older sister.

"Grandpa! We found something! It's Screech!" Littlefoot shouted. "The Fast-biter!"

"What? Did he get in the Valley somehow?" Grandpa Longneck asked.

"No. It seems that…" Littlefoot started, then paused. Somehow, he just couldn't bring himself to finish his thought.

"He's dead!" Cera shouted.

"What!?" Her father exclaimed. "Screech is dead!?"

"That's not all." Chomper said, stepping forward. "Before he died, he said something about someone coming back."

"What do you think, Grandma?" Grandpa Longneck asked.

"I think we should go take a look at least." She replied. Together, the two great longnecks began to move toward the Great Wall.

"You don't think you're going anywhere without me, do you?" Topsy said. "Tricia, go back to mommy. I'm going to go take a look at this, too."

"Come on, we'll show you where." Littlefoot said.

"Uh, Littlefoot," Petrie said. "How grown ups go through cave? They too big."

"We'll have to reopen the Hidden Valley to get out." Grandpa Longneck said.

Together, all of them made their way to the blocked off Hidden Canyon and the grown ups steadily began moving the rocks and boulders. Grandpa Longneck would place both his front legs on a boulder and move it slowly to its side and rolled it away. As time passed, slowly the canyon began to reopen until finally they could all get out.

"It's open." Grandpa Longneck said.

"Okay, children. Show us where you found Screech." Topsy said.

"I can find him." Chomper said. He got out in front of the others and lifted his head into the wind. He sniffed, trying to get the scent, but only the scent of the many strong Tree Sweets reached his nose. "Eww. These Tree Sweets are making my sniffer burn."

"Don't worry, Chomper." Ruby told him, as she came up beside him. "Once we move out of the Canyon, your sniffer will be working fine." She looked back and motion to everyone to follow her. "Come on." She stepped over the rocks that still remained and out through the canyon, followed by Littlefoot, the gang and the grown ups.

Once on the outside of the canyon, the smell of Tree Sweets wasn't as strong as it had been and Chomper could smell again. He sniffed the air again and easily found where they should go. The smell of blood was unmistakable. "This way," he said, walking off to the north.

/

As the plant-eaters moved off to the north following the scent of blood, Sharptooth came up from the south. He had checked the wind and made sure that he would be downwind of the canyon opening. His foresight had paid off. Such stupid grass munchers, they had just left the door open for him. Almost too easy.

Sneakily, making sure to place his feet softly against the ground, Sharptooth made his way into the Hidden Canyon. The strong burning smell of the Tree Sweets made him wince for a second and brought a tear to his eye. But still he muscled through it. They might be enough to make most sharpteeth turn away, but he was stronger than all other sharpteeth. No bad smelling plant would keep him away from his objective.

He passes through the canyon, making sure to breath through his mouth rather than his nose, and entered the Great Valley. The first time he'd been here in almost 100 years.

/

Chomper led the group, following the smell of blood in the air. "It should be right up ahead." He said as he looked over his shoulder.

Sure enough, as they moved passed a great standing rock, they found the body of Screech. Just as they had left it. His head was arched back, blood puddled around his mouth. All across his body they could see bite marks, deep bite marks. His ankle was twisted backwards and both arms were extremely bloody.

"Oh, that's terrible." Grandma Longneck said.

The body of Screech was soon passed over by Chomper. He walked right passed it and began to follow the trail of red left behind it. He sniffed at the blood trail momentarily, then continued along it.

"Chomper, where are you going?" Littlefoot called.

"Chomper, you can not run off alone, no no no." Duckey shouted from atop Spike's head.

Littlefoot started off after Chomper and everyone followed in pursuit. Chomper followed the blood trail as it wove it's way through the rock maze that was the Mysterious beyond. It wasn't long before Chomper found where the trail ended. He looked down at the end of the trail dumbfounded, then looked up and saw two rows of enormous teeth right in front of him. Hugh teeth lunging at him, trying to tear at his skin and grind him to bits.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!" Chomper screamed and fell backwards. He scrambled to his feet and tried to run again, but he was so scared that he slipped again. After he tripped the second time, he simply curled up in a ball and shivered. As the seconds turned to minutes and no pain came, Chomper slowly uncurled himself. "What's going on? If I was being attacked, I'd be dead now." He looked up and saw the teeth right where they were before, unmoving.

"Hey, Chomper!" Littlefoot called, as he came around the rock. "You shouldn't run off like- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" Littlefoot screamed as he saw the mouth of teeth.

"Hold on, Littlefoot." Chomper said. "It's dead. Look." Chomper pointed at the creature. Only then did Littlefoot recognize it for what it really was. Redclaw. The Scar that was carved over his left eye was plain as day.

By this time; Cera, Ducky, Petrie, Spike, Ruby, and the grown ups had also come around the rock and seen it. Redclaw's body also covered in bite marks. Deep gashes could be seen in his stomach and chest, and a chunk of flesh had been torn from his back. Laying not far away was the body of Thud, just as maimed if not more so that Screech.

"Oh, my…" Cera had to turn away. She ran to her father's side and forced herself to keep from throwing up. Her sentiments were shared with the rest of the group, utter speechlessness. No one could seem to say anything to even grasp at the gravity of the situation. Although one thing was certain, something very big and power had to be behind this.

"This is impossible." Ruby said. "Redclaw is the biggest and meanest sharptooth ever. How can he…"

"These marks were left by another sharptooth," Chomper said.

"But I don't understand," Littlefoot exclaimed, "what sharptooth would be bad enough to kill Redclaw?"


	3. The Devil Returns

**The Demon Returns**

Littlefoot, the gang, and the grown-ups came back through the Hidden Canyon into the Valley. None of them spoke, the image of Redclaw brutally murdered still lingered in their minds. And the bite marks on his neck along with the claw marks across his stomach, according to Chomper these could only have been made by another sharptooth.

But Redclaw was supposed to be the biggest and meanest sharptooth of all time, and that was what lingered most in Littlefoot's mind. A sharptooth bigger and more deadly than Redclaw. It disturbed him to think about it, but he could only imagine a single sharptooth that ever scared him more or was more ferocious than Redclaw, and that was the first sharptooth he ever encountered. The one that killed his mother.

"Littlefoot," Grandpa longneck said.

"Huh," Littlefoot replied, snapping out of his thoughts. "Yeah, Grandpa?"

"How about you and your friends go play, we need to speak with the other grown-ups over this." Grandpa said.

"Okay, sure." Littlefoot said.

"No." Topsy said. "Cera's coming home with me."

"But, Daddy…" Cera began to protest.

"Cera, you're coming with me and staying with Tria until this is figured out."

"You don't need to treat my like a little kid anymore, Daddy." Cera said.

"That's enough, young lady. Let's go." As he said that, Topsy started walking off into the Valley. Cera snorted in frustration, then followed.

/

Sharptooth snuck through the valley, keeping deep within the trees so as to remain hidden. His stomach still growled with hunger, although he had mangled and killed that pitiful excuse for a predator, Redclaw, Sharptooth did not eat any of him. A devastating killer he was, but a cannibal he was not. If ever given the choice, he would never eat another sharptooth.

But nearby, he could smell a small group of three horns. Four threehorns, two of them were adults, another was approaching adolescence and the last a new hatchling. Yes, at least one of these should be able to give him the energy he desired. He turned toward the scent of the threehorns, keeping himself in the shadows of the trees. He looked through the spaces between the trees with his good eye and into a small nest in a clearing. At the nest, two of the threehorns stood. One was a large female with a pink hide, the other was the hatchling.

He waited in the trees, just out of sight. His dark green skin hid well in the shadows of the green food. His muscles tensed as he watched the threehorns. He would not be able to attack them at this distance without the mother turning to defend. He needed one of them to get just a little closer. Just a little closer. Closer, damn it!

The hatchling jumped and bounded along happily and eager, like she didn't have a care in the world. She steadily came closer and closer to him, he tapped his finger claws together in anticipation and his breathing increased when suddenly she turned away and ran the other direction, but not in fear.

Sharptooth grinded his teeth together in frustration. The threehorn hatchling ran back to the other end of the clearing just as the other adult threehorn came into the clearing. This one was male and with a grayish colored skin. Following him was the other young one, a female that was bright yellow.

Both of Sharptooth's eyes snapped wide open at the sight of this little threehorn. He recognized her instantly, the same threehorn from years ago. She had been with the longneck. And it had been her that also tried to kill him. He remembered easily, the cliff over the deep pond and the rock.

_He had just jumped up to the rock and was reaching over it trying to catch the baby longneck in his teeth when he heard this threehorn run up. She rammed head first into the rock and then the rock started to tip and roll. Sharptooth snapped his jaws at the hatchling one last time just as the rock rolled off the Cliffside with him on top of it, taking him into the watery abyss of that pond._

Yes, he remembered that threehorn. His blood boiled at the sight of this threehorn, his hatred overflowed until he could no longer remain hidden. In a single action, Sharptooth bolted to his feet and crashed through the trees, toppling several of them over. A terrible roar split the air as he charged forward toward the young threehorn.

The young threehorn screamed in fear and ran just as Sharptooth snapped his jaws against the spot where she stood. He continued after her, even when she ran back into the trees all Sharptooth did was rip the trees from the earth.

In a massive jump, Sharptooth leapt into the air and landed in front of her. Without a seconds hesitation, he turned and brought two rows of huge teeth down upon the threehorn, now shivering in fear. Suddenly, another threehorn, the older male, placed himself between Sharptooth and the yellow youngster. Sharptooth caught one of the threehorn's horn in his mouth, luckily it slipped out the other side without causing any damage.

"Cera!" The older male shouted. "Run! Go get help!"

"Daddy!" Cera cried.

"Go!" Her father shouted.

Sharptooth growled, he twisted the horn in his mouth and with a quick jerk of his head snapped it in two. A holler of pain erupted from the old male threehorn. Sharptooth spat out the half a horn in his mouth and then turned back to Cera, the earth shaking with every footstep. Cera scrambled and ran with Sharptooth right on top of her. As he came up again, Cera's father slammed his body up against Sharptooth's legs, causing the carnivore to fall to the ground with a bone crunching thud.

Sharptooth was unfazed. He kicked and caught the threehorn in the face, slashing his claws against the other dinosaur's flesh. Cera started to run, but stopped when she heard her father cry out in pain. She turned back and saw Sharptooth getting back to his feet and again coming towards her. As he did, she noticed his right eye. It was held tightly shut.

She gasped in horror. This was impossible, there was no way it could be him. No, she watched him die when he fell from the cliff and into the water with the boulder on top of him. He should be dead, has to be dead! Yet here he was, standing in front of her with the same terrible snarl and mouth of teeth as before.

Sharptooth charged again, his mouth open wide right for her. But she couldn't move, she tried, but her legs were frozen in place with fear. Every second, those teeth drew closer and closer to tear her apart and swallow her but still she couldn't move. Just before reaching her, Tria, the female threehorn rammed into Sharptooth's leg, one horn on either side. She shoved him down and the giant carnivore landed with a crash. "Cera! Run!" Tria cried. "Take Tricia with you! I can hold this guy."

"No, Tria. You go with them and warn the others, I'll hold him off." Topsy shouted, scrapping his feet across the ground and aiming his horns at the fallen predator.

"I won't leave you behind, Topsy!" Tria cried. Suddenly, the great green monster slammed into her, burying his teeth into her back. Tria screamed in pain as the serrated death weapons drove themselves deeper into her flesh. Sharptooth began to twist and shake his head, slicing his teeth through her body.

Cera still couldn't bring herself to run. The horror before her eyes still transfixed her. Topsy charged at Sharptooth, barreling full speed at the attacker with his horns aimed right at the soft stomach. Sharptooth saw him coming and released Tria from his grip, pushing himself back and out of the threehorn's path.

"Tria! Go!" Topsy shouted again.

Tria nodded and started to move. She nudged Cera, which then started Cera finally running again. Tricia ran up to her mother's side just as Tria scooped the little hatchling up in her mouth and carried her away.

Finally, they emerged from the forest and found the other adults, all of whom had gathered together in the main discussion rock outcrop. "Tria, Cera," Grandma longneck said, "what is going on?"

"It's a sharptooth!" Tria shouted, placing Tricia on the ground. "Topsy is fighting it, but I don't think he can keep it up for long."

"A sharptooth!?" Grandma exclaimed.

"You can't kill him. You can't kill him. He won't die." Cera muttered under her breath.

"Cera?" Tria asked.

"He won't die!! We have to run, he'll kill us all! He can't die!!" Cera screamed.

Just then, the sound of Topsy crying out in pain rose from the trees and echoed through the air. Feathered flyers took flight from the forest and lifted towards the sky as the fierce roar of the sharptooth split the air. A dead silence fell across the valley. Everyone who stood they near Cera just stared at the dark forest without uttering a word. "You don't understand!" Cera finally spoke out. "This isn't just any sharptooth. It's HIM. It's THE Sharptooth, himself!"


	4. Terror of The Sharptooth

**Terror of The Sharptooth**

Cera sat shivering by Tria's leg. Her whole body shook with fear and her teeth chattered. Not once had the idea of Sharptooth's return ever dawned on her. His horrible face still haunted her mind from time to time, although she never told anyone. Sometimes at night, Cera would jolt awake from a Sleep Terror about the Sharptooth. She never told anyone because she knew exactly what they would say. They would tell her that Sharptooth was dead, or that he could not hurt them anymore. But still; that eye. His blind eye would still look right at her, just as it did in that cave so long ago.

"We need to go back." Tria said. "Topsy is in trouble and we have to save him."

"She's right." Grandpa Longneck said. "We have to go."

"NO!" Cera shouted. "You can't! He'll kill you, too. No one can stop him."

"Cera, you may think it's him, but The Sharptooth is dead. You told us yourself how you and Littlefoot got rid of him." Grandma Longneck reasoned. "There is no way Sharptooth is alive."

"I don't know how either, but it was him. I saw his blind eye." Cera said in a hushed voice. "It could be no one else."

"In any case, we're going to find and help Mr. Threehorn." Grandpa said. With that, Grandpa and Grandma started thundering off to the forest.

"NO! Don't go! He'll kill you, too!" Cera shouted, but they paid no heed. The two elderly longnecks just moved forward into the trees.

/

Sharptooth stood above the fallen body of the threehorn. A threehorn or not, he still provided little challenge for the carnivore. In fact, Sharptooth wasn't even hurt in the least from this fight. Killing this threehorn was almost too easy. Not even worth eating.

Not far away, he heard the sound of two more dinosaurs approaching. Large dinosaurs, from the sound of their footsteps. Longnecks. Sharptooth snarled in hatred. He hated longnecks above all other dinosaurs, and it wasn't just because of the hatchling that blinded his eye and almost killed him. He's detested longnecks for almost a hundred years.

He turned toward the oncoming longnecks, then stopped. He can't just go on a killing spree now that he was finally back in the valley. He still had to make sure that no one knew it was he who was here. Instead, he wanted the dinosaurs to seek him out rather than have to search for them himself. He turned back and dipped his feet in the blood from the threehorn's body. Then he walked away, leaving a trail of blood behind him.

As the adults follow the blood, the children will be left unguarded. Including the hatchling longneck. Now as he began to think, leaving the young threehorn alive was probably a good thing. Since she is alive, she will go to find her longneck friend and tell him the truth. If she did that, all Sharptooth would have to do was follow her and she would lead him to the longneck. It would work, it worked before in the cave years ago.

/

Cera lay curled up by Tria's feet. She still shook, though not as violently as before. What was Sharptooth doing here? This was the question that flowed through her mind. After all these years, why was Sharptooth here now? An obvious answer presented itself, Sharptooth was here to kill them. And when he saw her he attacked violently, almost single mindedly like it was all he wanted in the world to see her dead.

It wouldn't surprise her, she did help push the bolder into the water. Her eyes grew large and she gasped. She **helped** push the bolder, but she wasn't the only one to do so.

"Littlefoot!" Cera blurted.

"What?" Tria asked.

"Sharptooth is here for Littlefoot! He has to be. Littlefoot was the one who blinded him and the one that planned how to kill Sharptooth. I have to find Littlefoot and tell him." Cera jumped to her feet and started running.

"Wait, Cera!" Tria cried. "I'm going with you. With a sharptooth running around the valley, whether or not it's Sharptooth himself, I'm still going to keep an eye on you." She moved after Cera to search for Littlefoot.

/

Grandma and Grandpa longneck looked down with surprise and sadness at the body of their fallen friend. Topsy lay dead at their feet, his blood still warm. "How horrible." Was all Grandma could say, a tear rolled from her eye. "Now Cera has no one left in this world."

"That monster." Grandpa said. "This sharptooth will pay for what he's done." He looked down at the body and saw the bloody footprints leading away. "Sharpteeth are so stupid, it left a trail for us to follow. It probably got scared when it heard us coming and ran away in fear. Let's follow this trail and track it down."

/

Sharptooth continued walking, the blood on his feet had wiped off by now. By leaving that trail for the longnecks to follow, he successfully led them in the wrong direction and was now going back. The scent of the young threehorn was still fresh in his mind, and her smell was strong in this valley. Already, she was moving, and with her the older female threehorn.

He moved off in the direction of the scent, still making sure to stay hidden in the trees. This was almost going to be too easy.

/

"Littlefoot!" Cera cried as she ran. "Littlefoot! Where are you!?"

Littlefoot, who was playing with the others in the sheltering grass near the Sinking Sand, heard Cera calling. "Huh?" Littlefoot asked.

Ruby came racing through the grass and collided with Littlefoot. "HA. Caught you, Littlefoot. Littlefoot, you're caught. You're now it." She laughed.

"Wait a minute, Ruby, did you hear that?" Littlefoot asked.

"Hear what?" Ruby asked.

Duckey, Spike, Petrie and Chomper all stepped out of the grass and came up next to Littlefoot. "Yeah, what do you hear?" Petrie asked.

"I thought I heard Cera screaming." Littlefoot said. He stood up and stretched his neck out. "Cera!"

"Littlefoot! Where are you!?" Cera's voice shouted back.

"Me hear her." Petrie said.

"Cera! We're here by the sheltering grass!" Littlefoot called.

Cera came running from the woods and stopped short right in front of Littlefoot with Tria right behind her. "Run, guys! Sharptooth is here and he's after us!" Cera screamed. "The Sharptooth!"

"There's a sharptooth in the valley?" Littlefoot asked.

"Not just a sharptooth, The Sharptooth himself." Cera cried. "He's come back! I know it sounds impossible, but it was him!"

Littlefoot sighed and rolled his head. "Come on, Cera. We watched him die. There's no way he can be alive."

"That's what I thought, but it's him." Cera exclaimed.

"Cera, it's not okay to lie, no no no." Ducky remarked.

A booming footstep shook the earth beneath their feet. It was soon followed by another, and then another each growing closer. Then the trees by the sheltering grass exploded apart and the Sharptooth tore his way into the clearing, crushing the already fallen trees beneath his feet.

All seven of the children screamed in unison and turned to run. As they ran, the monster gave chase, catching up to them and stomping his foot down in front of them. He let out a ferocious roar that split the air, then looked down on the hatchlings, letting them see his blind eye.

Littlefoot gasped in horror. It WAS him. That was the same eye that got hit by the thorn in that thorn bush so long ago. This was THE Sharptooth, the one that killed his mother.

Sharptooth looked down at the longneck frozen in fear at his feet. Even his friends were too terrified to move. As Sharptooth scanned them, he saw that a young sharptooth was among them, just as scarred as the rest. He zeroed in on the tiny carnivore and snorted. Then he said in the sharptooth language, "translate for me." He then looked back at the hatchling longneck and started growling.

"He says, 'I've been looking for you. I was hoping that you could give me a better hunt than you did, like you did before. I will still feast on your flesh, tiny longneck.'" Chomper translated.

With that, Sharptooth threw his mouth open and brought it down towards the children. At that moment, a tail swung up and smashed against his head and sent him sprawling to the ground. Littlefoot twisted his head around and saw his grandfather and grandmother standing behind him. Grandpa was the one that hit Sharptooth with his tail.

"Leave my grandson alone!" Grandpa sneered.

Sharptooth flailed about on the ground before quickly righting himself. Without hesitation, he charged at the old longneck and snapped his jaws at its neck. The longneck reared back on his back legs and then brough his entire weight down on the predator. Sharptooth twisted with ease and dodged the longneck. In that same movement, he brought his jaws up towards the longneck's throat, but was smacked again in the head this time by the other longneck.

Sharptooth staggered for a moment before facing the herbivores again. He roared, saliva flying from his huge teeth. He leapt into the air and landed right in between the longnecks, slashing one on the side with his foot claws while shoving against the other with his whole body.

Grandma longneck groaned in pain as the claws dug into her body, causing blood to splatter across the ground. With as much strength as she could muster, she swung her tail and smacked Sharptooth across the neck. Sharptooth staggered until Grandpa shoved the carnivore with his shoulder, pushing Sharptooth into the Sinking Sand.

Sharptooth fell forward and landed head first in the black bubbling goo that was the Sinking Sand. He struggled to lift his head above the slimy goo, spiting the gunk out of his mouth as best he could. He growled in frustration. Kicking and squirming as best he could, but still the thick black sand slowly drug him under and he disappeared from view into the goo.

Grandpa panted for breath and Grandma hobbled up next to him. "Grandpa! Grandma!" Littlefoot shouted, running up beside them.

"Littlefoot." Grandma said, nuzzling her head against his small body. "We were so worried."

Suddenly, the far end of the Sinking Sand exploded upwards and Sharptooth climbed up from gunk, still dripping with goo. He brought himself out on the far side, gasping for breath. He looked back across the Sinking Sand at the hatchlings and the elderly longnecks with hatred. He roared a tremendous roar, then stomped away into the forest.

"He says, 'I'll kill you all.'" Chomper translated.


	5. Similar Feelings

**Similar Feelings**

Sharptooth had retreated up into the mountains of the Great Wall. Although not seriously injured, his body was still exhausted from escaping the sinking sand. It had taken most of his strength to drag himself from the black tar and afterwards he was in no condition to fight. And after climbing the mountain, he really had almost no strength left.

That baby longneck had become an even more painful thorn in his side. Constantly digging deeper and deeper, tormenting him. An itch he could not scratch, a target he could not hit. Sharptooth felt a rumbling in his throat and the heat of his blood. Curse him, curse that little runt.

He remembered back to when he first saw and targeted that longneck, watching the hatchling play in a small pond with the baby threehorn. He went after the longneck for one simple reason; it was a longneck. That was the only reason he attacked. If there had been any other animal besides a longneck there, he probably would've left it be.

Sharptooth had a deep hatred for all longnecks, and spent the last century almost exclusively hunting and killing them. His name became so infamous that it became synonymous with not just him but his entire race, every time a plant eater would see one of his kind they would instantly fear that it was Sharptooth. Ever since, all large carnivores were called sharpteeth. And unlike the previous name, "sharptooth" struck fear in the hearts of all dinosaurs just when mentioned. No one could ever fight him in a one on one match and survive.

But then along comes these hatchlings who not only defeat and humiliate him, but nearly kill him. His reputation, and the reputation of all other sharpteeth tarnished forever. For most sharpteeth he felt no pity; they deserved to be mocked and ridiculed for the weaklings they were. But he would restore his name and once again strike fear in the hearts of all dinosaurs, plant eater and meat eater. All for his sake, as well as hers.

/

Cera lay on the banks of the watering hole, her front legs tucked up under her head as she stared blankly into the water. After Grandma and Grandpa longneck saved them from Sharptooth they came back to where her father lay dead from his fight with Sharptooth. Young Tricia burst into screams and tears nuzzling against Tria, who also cried. Everyone was horrified, but Cera just turned and walked away. Even when Tria called after her, Cera did not turn around. She just ran; ran deep into the trees and eventually found herself by the watering hole, where she was now.

She didn't want to talk to anyone, or se anyone right now. All she wanted was to be alone. So no one could see her cry. She stared down at her face in the water and almost thought she saw her father appear behind her. Her heart leapt with joy, but when she turned to looked, there was no one.

Grief stricken again, she looked back at the water and saw the tears well up in her eyes. She suddenly felt angry with herself and stomped her foot in her own reflection. She closed her eyes and let the tears flow down her cheeks and splash into the water. "When the storms would come," she muttered to herself, "and things would seem so bad. And I'd want to cry, I'd listen to my dad," her voice cracked as she struggled to hold back from crying. "He'd promise that the rains would pass, the day would soon be fair. And I never was afraid because, he's always there." Unable to hold it in anymore, she buried her face in her front legs and cried.

"Always there. Someone you can count on to comfort you." A voice behind her began. "Always there. Like a green, green valley you can come home to." Littlefoot stepped up next to Cera and nuzzled his head against hers. She moved away and sank back to the ground. "I'm sorry about your dad, Cera."

"Leave me alone, Littlefoot." Her voice choked.

"If it's any consolation, I know what you're feeling." Littlefoot said.

"How can you know?!" Cera shouted. She stomped up on her feet and glared back at him. "How can you possible know?!"

"My mother was killed, remember. By this same sharptooth." Littlefoot replied. "I remember now, like it was yesterday. She would hold me close, and then I'd hear her say 'you know I'll never leave you, you can find me everywhere. From the morning light, the evening star, I'm always there.'"

Cera sniffled. "I just miss him so much."

"I know. And you'll never stop missing him, but I was told that even after death we will never truly be apart. And besides, you're still not alone. You have Ducky, Petrie, Spike, Chomper, Ruby and me her for you. Plus Tria and Tricia, you need to be strong for their sake."

/

Climbing over the great wall came two large longnecks. The first was an old male, nearly as old as Sharptooth himself and like Sharptooth had a scar cut across the right side of his face from above his eye to partway down his neck. Along with him was a female considerably younger, but still old by dinosaur standards.

This old male, Doc, looked down over the valley in the failing light as the setting sun cast the sky in shades of yellow red and purple. He scowled in concern as he surveyed the landscape. "Something bad is happening, Dara." He said in a dry gravely voice. "Something I must look into."

"Doc, I wish you shouldn't do this." The female, Dara exclaimed. "If it is what you think it is, you should just leave it alone."

"I can't do that. It's always been my job to help this valley when it is in need. And now it's in the most need it's ever been in since 100 years ago." Doc responded.

"You're not as young as you used to be. Are you sure you can handle this on your own?" Dara asked.

"Don't know." Doc said. "All I know is a serious problem has occurred and that I need to solve it." With that, Doc started making his way down the mountain side and into the valley.


	6. The Lone Dinosaur Returns

**The Lone Dinosaur Returns**

A meeting was called for all the grown-ups in the gathering circle. For security reasons, the children were brought along also. The problem that needed solving, Sharptooth. "First," Grandpa longneck said, "we need to know why Sharptooth is still alive and why he is here?"

"And how are we supposed to answer that?" Mr. Clubtail asked. "Are we supposed to walk up to him and ask?"

"Littlefoot, how did you and your friends stop Sharptooth before?" Grandma Longneck asked.

"Well," Littlefoot said, "my friends and I lured him to a deep pond and pushed a rock down on him. We thought he drowned."

Standing next to Littlefoot were Cera, Ducky, Petrie, Spike, Ruby, and Chomper. "That right." Ducky said. "That big mean Sharptooth chased me down to the water and attacked when they hit him."

"But then how did he survive?" Ducky's mom asked.

"Maybe he swam back up after they left." Tria subjected.

"We stayed behind to make sure he didn't." Cera said.

"It doesn't matter how he lived, we just have to kill him now." Clubtail said.

"It does matter. If he survived that, what else could he live through? He even escaped the sinking sand." Grandpa longneck said. "And he defeated Mr. Threehorn. I think he can take anyone of us here."

A loud roar echoed down from the mountains in the cold early morning light. All the grown ups instantly turned and looked up in the direction the sound came from. Only one thing entered their minds, Sharptooth.

Up in the mountains, Sharptooth stretched his muscles from the previous nights rest. It had been one day since he came to this valley and in that day he had successfully infiltrated and managed to kill one Threehorn. Still, he hadn't been able to kill that baby longneck yet. But today would be the day. That little runt will die and so will anyone who gets in his way.

And once the hatchling was gone, Sharptooth would continue his campaign to kill all longnecks. Every longneck in the world would die by his teeth and claws. This would be his mark on the world. The extinction of the longnecks. Sharptooth started walking down the mountainside. He could smell the plant eaters.

Grandpa longneck looked back down at the gathered residents of the Great Valley. "If we can't figure out a plan now, then we will al just have to stay together in a large group until we do. No Sharptooth, no matter how strong, and take on the entire Great Valley at once."

"Normally, you would be right." A voice said. A gravelly, dry voice. A pair of longnecks appeared coming over a small hill moving towards the gathering of dinosaurs. The first, and oldest of the two, seemed to tower over even Grandma and Grandpa. He was of such an age that he made the oldest living resident of the Great Valley, Mr. Thicknose, look young. A large ugly scar cut over right eye.

"Doc!" Littlefoot shouted. "You came back!"

"Yeah. I did." Doc replied. "I wish it were under better circumstances, but that can't be helped. I'm sure you can confirm what I have come to believe. The Sharptooth is still alive."

"How did you know?" Littlefoot asked.

"A while ago, after my last visit, I discovered a longneck that had been brutally and graphically killed. The manner of which it was killed I will not repeat, but it was a distinct style I've seen many times. The killing style was that of The Sharptooth himself.

"At first, I thought this was an impossibility. After all, Sharptooth was dead. I thought it might be a copy cat. But I began to follow the trail of killings and the more I found the more I began to fear that is until I found the body of Redclaw. Upon finding him, any thought of a copy cat disappeared. That trail of bodies led me directly to the valley. And I also know now that it is my job to stop the Sharptooth."

"Your job? Why specifically is it your job?" Grandpa longneck asked.

"Because I'm the only one who has fought Sharptooth one-on-one and defeated him." Doc said.

The trees behind Doc groaned and twisted, finally snapping and exploding from the forest and Sharptooth shoved his way out, demonstrating his strength. He snarled and glared angrily at Doc, his right eye closed tight. Then he sniffed and it appeared that he smiled. "Hello, again. It's been a while." Sharptooth said in plant-eater talk. A collective gasp rose from the gathering of herbivores. "Oh, please. Is it that hard to believe that I can speak in this pitiful collection of sound you call a language?"

"Nice to see you, too, Sharptooth. How long has it been? 100 years?" Doc said.

"Something along those lines, it's difficult to tell when you're trying for mass genocide." Sharptooth replied.

"By the way, how is that going? You're whole genocide thing, how far along are you?" Doc asked.

"Not as far as I would like." Sharptooth said. "It's been nice talking to you, old friend, but I have other matters to attend to. So move."

"What is it you're after?" Doc asked.

"Why would I tell you? Just get out of my way, or I'll be forced to kill you. And I don't want to do that yet."

"You already tried that, and the last time I checked, I was the one who beat you."

"Barely. And I left a memento from our last fight. Your eye, remember?" Sharptooth growled.

"And you have one to match." Doc replied, motioning to Sharptooth's swollen right eye. "That is much more recent. I didn't think anyone could possibly land a decent blow on you. You must be getting weak with age."

In a flash, Sharptooth stormed towards Doc. His clawed feet tore the ground apart behind him. His jaws opened wide in a roar, saliva flying from his rows of huge jagged teeth as he closed in on Doc. Just as Sharptooth was about to tear flesh from bone, a powerful blow struck him from the side and sent him sprawling on the ground.

Doc had hit Sharptooth with his tail. Doc angled his body so that he stood sideways to Sharptooth, broadside, holding his tail up ready to attack. Sharptooth got back on his feet and glared at Doc. He charged again, but as Doc swung his tail, Sharptooth leaped into the air and over the swinging tail. Higher than a dinosaur his size and age should be able to jump. He came down on Doc, digging his claws into the old longneck's hide.

Littlefoot looked on in horror. It was happening again. This was just like what happened when his mother died. Sharptooth would leap on their back and attack their blind spot. As Sharptooth was about to sink his teeth into Doc's back, another tail swung around and struck the carnivore, sending the large predator crashing to the ground. Grandpa grinded his teeth and he glared down at the fallen predator. It was he who had hit Sharptooth off.

"Stand back!" Doc shouted. "You're not strong enough to fight him. Only I can defeat him."

"If only you were ten years younger, Doc." Sharptooth said as he got up. "I can tell, you've lost your touch. You're not as strong as you used to be, the last hundred years has made you weaker. While I have only gotten stronger." Sharptooth let out a deafening roar. The ground trembled beneath the dinosaurs feet.

"You can't take him alone." Grandpa said. "I'll help you. Besides, I have a core to settle with him. He killed my daughter."

"I've killed a lot of longnecks, I lose count of who is who after the first decade." Sharptooth remarked. "Oh, wait. Now I remember. You're talking about the hatchling's mother. It's not often I run into a longneck who is capable of actually defending against me one-on-one. She was a difficult opponent, regardless of the earth shake that occurred during the battle or the fact I lost the use of my eye minutes before. But in the end I managed to deliver my signature blow. My favorite attack, to leap on the back and tear out a chunk of flesh, letting the victim eventually bleed to death if I don't kill them otherwise. No other large sharptooth is capable of it."

Sharptooth charged again at Doc and Grandpa. They steadied themselves and once he was in range, they swung their tails at him. At the instant, he jumped again, going right over them. Sharptooth went right over the two longnecks. Once he hit ground, he kept running towards the crowd of dinosaurs. The herbivores started to run and scramble in panic, tripping over their own feet and even trampling each other to get away as fast as they could.

Sharptooth had his eye on one dinosaur. Littlefoot. He quickly zeroed the tiny longneck out and moved in for the kill. Another tail slammed against him, sending him crashing to the ground. "Stay away from my grandson!" It was Grandma longneck.

Sharptooth quickly regained his footing and charged at the elderly longneck. He collided with her, and without hesitation, dug his teen into her neck. He snarled and growled as the vibrant red blood slashed across his face and the ground. A soundless scream came from Grandma's lips. A hushed and uneasy silence fell across the valley.

Grandma fell to the earth with a thud that shook the ground once Sharptooth let go. Her mouth moved soundlessly until finally coming to a stop. Sharptooth stood over her, blood dripping from his teeth. No one moved. No one said a word. Littlefoot could only stare in silent horror.

Sharptooth threw back his head and roared triumphantly. "RrrrRRROOOAAARRR!!!!! This is what will become of all those who stand against me!! I will continue to return day after day, until that runt of a hatchling longneck is dead!!" He said, staring down at Littlefoot. "Anyone who gets in my way will die!"

With that last statement, Sharptooth turned and walked away back up to the mountains.


	7. Childhood is Over

**Childhood is Over**

Littlefoot sobbed. It was too much to take, the death of his grandmother by the same sharptooth that murdered his mother right before his eyes. That night was a sleepless and horrible night for the young longneck. He and his grandfather hardly spoke at all that night. And that night, Littlefoot went back to the nest crying.

Halfway through the night, Littlefoot got up and started to move away from the nest. He looked back at his sleeping grandpa and a tear dropped from his eye. "I'm sorry I have to do this," he whispered, then started running. Littlefoot ran as fast as he could, moving across the valley and towards the Great Wall. He knew he could no longer stay in the Great Valley. The longer he stayed the more he would put everyone else in danger. Sharptooth was after him, not them. It was his fault, he thought, it was his fault that Cera's father and his grandmother were killed. If he hadn't been there, Sharptooth wouldn't have killed them.

Littlefoot ran until he was at the foot of the Great Wall before he started to climb. He made his way up the mountain, sometimes struggling to get a foothold until he was at the top of the mountain peak. He looked back down over the valley in regret and sorrow. He silently apologized to his friends and to his grandpa.

Just before he started down the other side, he was startled by the sound of approaching footsteps. He jumped to his feet and began frantically looking around in all directions. His pulse raced, his heart pounding. He saw a dark shape near by towering over him. Sharptooth had come for him, he must have. Littlefoot was scared stiff, he couldn't move aside from shivering.

"Hello, kid." The dark shape said. The voice was dry and old sounding. Doc.

Littlefoot nearly fainted upon hearing Doc's voice. As it was, his legs gave out underneath him and he folded up collapsing to the ground. "Doc, you scared me. I thought you were Sharptooth."

"If I was, you'd be dead. What are you doing out here so late, kid? It's dark and Sharptooth is about. You could get killed." Doc said.

"I…I have to…" Littlefoot stuttered.

"You think that by leaving you can save everyone here. Since Sharptooth is after you, by leaving you can lead him away from the Valley and insure everyone's safety. That's only a short term plan." Doc said.

"Short term?"

"Sharptooth is after you, that's correct. And he will follow you to get his revenge, that's also true. But that doesn't mean he won't come back for your friends. From what I can gather, it was the five of you that nearly killed him before. You may be the current target, but after he kills you he will return to kill them. And after that he will kill every other longneck in the Great Valley. And after that he will continue on with his attempted Genocide and kill every longneck in the world."

"He wants to kill every longneck in the world? Why?" Littlefoot asked.

"He hates all longnecks, I guess I'm the reason behind that. A long time ago, over 100 years ago Sharptooth wasn't a monster like he is now. In fact back then he was much like your friend, Chomper. Back then sharpteeth were not called 'sharpteeth', they were called 'big bitters.'" Doc explained.

"'Big Bitters?'" Littlefoot asked.

"Stupid, wasn't it? At that time, big bitters were not considered as dangerous as they are now. A mere traveling inconvenience. Sharptooth is a product of a much earlier time, a long, long time ago all longnecks were as strong as me and all sharpteeth were as strong as Sharptooth.

"But as time went on the stronger dinosaurs didn't breed as fast or as much as the weaker ones. As such, the more powerful dinosaurs began to be replaced my the less powerful. The less powerful ones are now the normal dinosaurs we see everyday. Sharptooth is the last of his kind.

"When I was hatched, and as I grew up, Sharptooth was my best friend. We hung out all the time and played together, not caring what everyone else thought. Even from an early age, out parents could tell that both Sharptooth and I were more powerful than other normal dinosaurs our age. Our parents advised us against any sort of friendship, knowing that eventually the two of us would end up fighting. To escape, we ran away. We thought that our friendship could be strong enough to overcome any sort of prejudice.

"Sharptooth even called me his _Gralnuk_." Doc said.

"What's a _Gralnuk_?" Littlefoot asked.

"It's a sharptooth word. It means 'best friend' but is literally translated as 'jaws.' It means, I could but my jaws to his throat and he would not be afraid. This my seem ridiculous since I'm a longneck and he wouldn't be in danger if I put my jaws to his neck, but meaning is the same. He could trust me with his life.

"He even swore never to kill a longneck as long as he lived. This was a promise he eventually was unable to keep. One day, while we were off in the wild after running away I saw him eating from the body of a longneck. A girl longneck that I had been seeing at the time. He killed her. I confronted him and he claimed that it was an accident, but I knew better. I attacked him and after the fight we parted ways. After that I decided to become a wanderer without a herd and I didn't see Sharptooth again until we had both grown up and I first came to the Great Valley. I found him attacking the dinosaurs of the Valley and I stepped in to stop him. Again I managed to defeat him, but he gave me this scar on my eye.

"After I defeated him in the Valley he started attacking longnecks everywhere, killing entire herds at a time, not sparing anyone. Women, children, elderly, it didn't matter to him. Ever since, whenever a big bitter was spotted the dinosaurs would fear that it was Sharptooth. As such the name big bitter fell out of use and was replaced by 'sharptooth,' which is considerable scarier and more threatening.

"Sharptooth hates all longnecks because of me. He will continue on his rampage until either he is dead or all longnecks are dead." Doc concluded.

Littlefoot stood in shock. "That…that's just horrible. We have to stop him! Doc, can't you stop him like you did before?"

Doc shook his head. "Not anymore. The last time I fought him was 100 years ago, when I was in my prime, and even then I was barely able to defeat him. I'm too old now; you saw how easily he got to me today. If I tried to fight him one-on-one again I'd lose. Somehow, Sharptooth hasn't gotten much weaker in these hundred years."

"But what if you didn't fight one-on-one? What if more that you fought him? Others of the valley joined together and attacked at once?" Littlefoot asked.

"Conceivably, yes. But that would take at least half of the Great Valley and even then a majority of them would still die before Sharptooth could be brought down." Doc said.

"Then what can we do?" Littlefoot asked.

"Kid, it may be too much to ask of you, but I think you can possibly defeat him." Doc said.

"Me? What can I do? Look at me, I'm short, a runt. I can fight anything, there's no way I could take on Sharptooth."

"Not as you are. Believe it or not, all of those more powerful dinosaurs I spoke of hatched as runts, which is why most of them did not survive past the first year. You are on the verge of your growth spurt. And I can see potential in you, especially considering you almost killed Sharptooth once. You are still going to run from the valley, right? Well then, I'll go with you and make you my pupil."

"Your pupil?" Littlefoot asked.

"Yes, I will train you and teach you everything I know. I'm too old to fight Sharptooth again, but you, …you can stop him. In fact, I think that only you can. Are you up to it?"

"Well, I don't know. What if I can't? What if I fail?" Littlefoot asked.

Doc straitened up and looked up over the Mysterious Beyond. "Now, we have no choice. Sharptooth must be stopped, or else everything you hold dear will be destroyed."

Littlefoot cried, tears rolled down his face. He then looked up at Doc and gave a stern look and a sharp nod. "Alright. I'll do it. Teach e how to fight."

Doc looked down at the little longneck and smiled. "Okay then, kid. Let us go." Together the old and the young longneck started down the mountains and into the Mysterious Beyond. Littlefoot didn't know how long he would be gone, hopefully not to long, but he could guess that this would be the last time he would see the Great Valley in a long time. "Good-bye." He whispered.


	8. Second Departure

**Second Departure**

Cera awoke as the Bright Circle rose over the Great Wall, casting its light over the valley. Her eyes blinked away the sleep-sand. Last night had not been a peaceful night. Over the course of the night, she had tossed and turned in unrest while waiting for sleep to finally take her. And when she did finally sleep, she had been plagued by bad sleep-stories. Not even sleep-stories, more like sleep-terrors of her watching as Sharptooth killed her father over and over again.

Her father would be fighting Sharptooth, and for most of the dream it would seem to be even. Then her father would charge and Sharptooth would jump over him, dodging the horns and attacking from behind. Sharptooth sank his teeth into Daddy Threehorn's hide and red would squirt and spray across his face and the ground. She would then hear her father roar in pain and the terrible crunching of bones as Sharptooth closed his jaws tighter and tighter.

These dreams had played through her mind over and over again all through the night and she could do nothing to stop it. She couldn't even wake up. Fortunately that was over now, but reality wasn't much better. Not with the real Sharptooth roaming around the Great Wall. She could only hope that today would be better.

"Cera!" Tricia's cute and squeaky voice squealed. The tiny pink Threehorn bounded over to her big sister and nuzzled up against her. "Sissy is awake."

"Yeah, I'm awake." Cera said, slightly disheartedly, and smiled. Tricia was too young to grasp the gravity of what was happening and for a moment Cera envied her for it.

"Cera, I hate to tell you this, but we have more bad news." Tria said.

"Oh, come on. I just woke up, can't I have a little peace without something bad happening?" Cera remarked.

"It concerns Littlefoot. He's missing." Tria said.

"What?! Missing? Oh, no. Did Sharptooth…" Cera trailed off, unable to finish her thought.

"We don't know." Tria said. "Mr. Longneck just woke up to find Littlefoot gone. Everyone in the Valley has been looking for him."

In the sky, a flyer swooped down overhead and landed near the nest. It was Petrie, gasping for breath. "Cera, me have news."

"What is it, Petrie?" Cera asked.

"Doc's lady friend say she know where Littlefoot go. She tell everyone at the rock bridge grown-up meeting place." Petrie explained. "She explain when everyone show up."

"Then we need to get moving. Hurry, we don't have any time." Cera started running as Petrie took off into the air.

"Come on, Tricia." Tria said as she followed.

A few minutes later, Cera arrived in the stone meeting ground and found Ducky, Spike, Chomper and Ruby already waiting along with most of the Great Valley. Standing in the center of the crowd was Dara, Doc's traveling companion.

"Cera, you made it. Made it you did." Ruby said.

"Has she said anything yet?" Cera asked, panting to catch her breath.

"Not yet." Chomper replied. "She's been specifically waiting for you."

"Yes," Dara said, looking down at the now smaller gang of friends, "now that you're here, I can explain what's going on." She turned back to the crowd and began. "Yes, Littlefoot has gone away. Don't worry, he's alright. Doc is with him."

Cera let out a deep sigh and sat on the ground. "That's good. At least he's protected."

"Doc is taking Littlefoot to protect him from Sharptooth, and so that Doc can teach him how to fight. Doc is going to make Littlefoot his heir and teach him everything he knows, so that one day Littlefoot will be able to stop Sharptooth." Dara said.

"He just ran away?" Ducky asked. "Does he even care anymore? What about his Grandpa?"

"Littlefoot is doing this because he cares. He cares about everyone's safety and he knows that Sharptooth is after him. So he decided to leave to keep Sharptooth from killing anyone else around here." Dara explained.

"And it will work." A growling terror voice said. Cera became frozen with fear. Standing on a hillside behind the crowd of leaf eaters, the rising Bright Circle casting his shadow over the multitude was the silhouette of Sharptooth.

Dara sneered. "Why are you here, monster?"

"It's easy to simply refer to a fellow dinosaur as a monster when the only way for said dinosaur to survive is to eat the flesh of others. Condemned as evil and the scourge of the earth because of my race, but we all must feed to survive. Am I cursed because I must eat meat to live?" Sharptooth responded.

"Deflecting the question, just like a sharptooth. You don't merely kill for food, you kill for joy. You don't survive, you murder. Again, why are you here?" Dara growled.

"I was startled to find that the longneck runt had run away, I didn't expect the one who almost killed me to be a coward. But now I know that he's hiding his cowardly ways with the illusion of compassion. And as well, I should've guessed that Doc would be intervening in matters that didn't concern him." Sharptooth started to move away. "It doesn't matter. They got less than a days head start, it won't take that long for me to catch up. And by the way, how many of you have killed my kind? You don't need to eat meat, and no matter what you say it wasn't always for survival. You have killed before, does that not make you a murderer? Those hatchlings down there had every intention of killing me in cold blood, what excuses their behavior and not mine?"

Sharptooth walked away, the ground thundering under his feet with each step. Cera watched as he went, a boiling rage started to fill her from her toes to the top of her frill. This evil monster, a true murderer. She wasn't a murderer for trying to kill him, he wasn't even a dinosaur, more like a demon walking the earth to cause pain and misery.

"Sharptooth!!" Cera shouted. "You won't have to worry about Littlefoot killing you, because I will!"

Sharptooth laughed. "You? A weak Threehorn could never kill me. But if you want to try, be my guest. Work, grow, train and become strong then one day face me without fear of death and I will fight you."

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Late that night, as the Night circle rose into the sky and blanketed the earth in silver, Chomper emerged from his cave in the Great Wall. Ruby had fallen asleep hours before. Chomper stepped outside and tested the air. His powerful sense of smell quickly caught the scent of Littlefoot, still strong in the air. He had made up his mind earlier today when Sharptooth had decided to keep going after Littlefoot. Chomper had decided that he was going to go after Littlefoot himself.

He started off. The young sharptooth climbed up the side of the Great Wall as silently as he could. He accidentally hit a small rock and caused it to cascade down the mountain all the way to the valley floor. A small stream of pebbles and dirt followed, and Chomper winced, thinking it would awaken someone in the valley. The rocks came to rest and when no one reacted or even moved, Chomper sighed in relief.

He turned back to go up the mountain and suddenly saw the huge snarling jaws and teeth of a predator. Sharptooth was standing right in front of him, holding his jaws down at Chomper's level. Sharptooth snorted and hit Chomper in the face with hot stankey breath.

"Aaahh!!" Chomper screamed and stumbled backwards, falling on his side. He tried to scramble away, clawing at the ground as best he could with his hands. Sharptooth rose to his full height and cast his terrible shadow over the tiny carnivore.

Just as Chomper got to his feet, Sharptooth stomped his talons in Chomper's path. Chomper was trapped in the presents of a monster. He curled up in a ball and quivered in fear, weeping.

Sharptooth sighed. "I wake up to a disturbance and find this little thing here. Disappointing." He said in Sharptooth speech. The giant carnivore stepped away. "Get up, worm."

Chomper dared to look up at the powerful creature standing before him. A mountain of muscle, claws, teeth and rage given flesh. The personification of power. The pinicle of sharptooth strength. Somehow, Chomper felt a form of reverence about him. "You're not going to eat me?" Chomper asked.

"You don't know much, do you?" Sharptooth said. "Cannibalism is the worst offence any dinosaur can achieve, leaf eater or meat eater. I may be many things, but I will not eat another of my own kind. Now scram. Get out of here."

Chomper started to turn, then stopped. "Why are you still here? I thought you were going after Littlefoot." Chomper asked.

"Is that the true name of the longneck runt? Littlefoot? I once knew another longneck who was called that, although that wasn't his true name. I don't feel the need to answer a weak traitor. Now, get out of here!!!" Sharptooth roared.

Chomper jumped. Sharptooth started to move, making his way over the Great Wall and to the Mysterious Beyond. "You are going after Littlefoot, aren't you? If you're going after him, then so am I!" Chomper shouted.

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" Sharptooth laughed. "What do you hope to accomplish? You'll run off into the Mysterious Beyond and only get yourself killed. Nothing as weak as you can survive in the real world. What does this longneck mean to you?"

"Littlefoot is my _Gralnuk_. My best friend. I would go to the ends of the earth for him. I don't care what I have to do, I will find him!" Chomper shouted.

Sharptooth looked down at this little hatchling. A physical weakling, small and extremely undersized for his age. But his heart was strong, his inner strength burned with the intensity of a smoking mountain. Sharptooth snorted. "So, you plan to go into a world of death to find a friend?"

"Yes." Chomper responded without a seconds pause.

"Fine. Then you travel with me. You will become my apprentice and you will learn everything from me. How to hunt, fight, and kill. That will be the agreement, otherwise I will kill you here and now." Sharptooth said. "Do you understand?"

"That's fine." Chomper replied, with complete confidence.

"Good." The mighty dinosaur said. "Then let us go." Together, the two sharpteeth stepped over the summit of the mountains and started their journey into the Mysterious Beyond, one searching for someone precious, the other after revenge.


	9. The Mentor Position

**The Mentor Position**

The morning after leaving the Great Valley, Doc decided that it was time to start Littlefoot's training. He stood by a pool of bubbling sinking sand. The grey goo splattered near his and Littlefoot's feet as the old longneck towered over his much young student. "Okay, boy. From this day forward, you're gonna have to grow up fast. I have no time for childish games. Is that understood?"

Littlefoot nodded sharply.

"Good. Then lets begin." Doc bit down on Littlefoot's tail and lifted the youngster in the air. He set Littlefoot down, situating his feet on four different rock jutting from the sand. "I'm going to teach you, hopefully, how to block and dodge when you have no place to run." Doc lightly flicked his tail across the ground, gathering together small stones and pebbles. "I'm gonna throw these at you. Try to dodge them."

With a swift flick of his tail, Doc sent a pebble flying at Littlefoot. Littlefoot had only time enough for one reaction. He halfway screamed just before the rock struck his nose. "Ow!"

"I said dodge." Doc flicked another stone.

Littlefoot ducked this time as the rock flew past. "Ha, I did it!" Just as he turned back, another stone hit him in the leg. "AH!" He buckled from the impact just as another stone slammed against his neck.

Stunned and confused, Littlefoot lost his balance. He collapsed into the bubbling sinking sand. The thick goo pulled on his body, dragging him down towards oblivion. He struggled, kicking his legs and trashing about, but his struggling only pulled him down faster.

His lungs ached, they burned for air. All of a sudden, he felt a great force pulling him up. The burst from the black muck and gasped, drawing in much needed oxygen. He coughed and sputtered, spitting out the sandy sludge. Littlefoot looked up and saw Doc's goo covered head biting down on his tail. Doc had plunged his head in and rescued him.

Doc carried Littlefoot back over to solid ground and set the young longneck down. "Thanks." Littlefoot wheezed.

"Not exactly the best job I've ever seen." Doc remarked. "You need to keep your mind on the situation at hand, and not act like a little kid."

"But I am a little kid."

"Not anymore. You are a warrior, now. A fighter. You have to stay in a combat state of mind all the time." Doc said. He lifted Littlefoot back up and placed him back on the rocks in the sinking sand. "Now, try it again."

"What?" Littlefoot stumbled as he regained his balance. "Already? I almost died just now, and you want me to try again?"

"I will drill this into your head, no time to rest. Keep in mind who your eventual enemy is, the most dangerous sharptooth in existence. Don't worry to much; if you fall in again I will drag you back out and we will continue until you have it down so well, that you can fight with your eyes closed." Doc grinned.

Littlefoot sighed in despair.

* * *

Chomper sprinted as fast as his legs could carry him. His muscles ached, his chest burned. Behind him, Sharptooth charged. Gnashing teeth right on his tail. Chomper scrambled under a rock outcrop, too low for Sharptooth to follow. He thought he could be safe there. That was, until the rocks above him lifted away as Sharptooth tore the rock back with his jaws.

Chomper started to run again. The mountain of muscle and teeth continued the chase, shaking the earth with each footstep. Chomper glanced over his shoulder in terror. His foot struck a rock and he fell forward, crashing to the ground. Sharp points of pain shot through his face as he scrapped against the ground. He skid to a stop and groaned in pain.

Sharptooth stood over the young dinosaur, staring down at him. "Disappointing." Sharptooth grumbled. "Not very fast, nor are you very strong. I'm beginning to wonder if taking you as my disciple was a good idea, or if I should've just killed you." Sharptooth stepped away as Chomper got back to his feet.

"I just need to work more." Chomper said.

"I think I know where your weakness comes from." Sharptooth said. "You diet. You only ate bugs while in the valley, didn't you?" Chomper nodded. "I thought so. You need real meat. Meat is power, it fills you with the strength of the animal you killed."

"What do you mean?" Chomper asked.

"Didn't your parents teach you anything? By killing another creature and consuming it's flesh, you absorb its strength." Sharptooth turned back to Chomper. "You must make a kill."

"What?!"

"The more you kill, the more meat you eat, the stronger you'll become. It is that simple." Sharptooth said.

"I can't. I swore to Littlefoot and the others that I would never kill another dinosaur." Chomper pleaded.

"You cannot survive otherwise. I'd bet that you've started to feel it already, the hunger gnawing at your stomach. The bugs that used to satisfy you for hours now leave you feeling like you've not eaten at all. You are a predator, it is what you are and you cannot change that. The only way you can survive is by eating the bodies of other dinosaurs. No way around it."

"But I don't want to. I want to live alongside other dinosaurs. The whole world is afraid of us, and I want to change that." Chomper retorted. "I will never kill another dinosaur."

Sharptooth looked down at the tiny dinosaur standing before him. He snorted. "Very well. Then go about it alone." Sharptooth turned and started to walk away.

"Hey, where are you going? You can't leave me out here!" Chomper raced after Sharptooth.

"Sure I can. You're weak, your training has gone nowhere, and you don't take my advice. Besides, it'll be faster and easier for me to catch the longneck runt without dragging useless dead weight around." Sharptooth barreled away, his clawed feet pounding into the earth with each step, leaving poor Chomper behind in the dust.

"WAIT!" Chomper shouted, his feet scurried as fast as they could after Sharptooth. But the titanic dinosaur was gone. Chomper slowed to a stop; he panted and gasped for breath. He was already tired from the supposed training Sharptooth put him through earlier. And Sharptooth was right; Chomper's stomach felt empty.

Chomper glared in the direction Sharptooth ran off in. Fine, leave. He didn't need Sharptooth. Chomper knew Littlefoot's scent well enough he could follow him without the help of that oversized behemoth.

The tiny purple sharptooth sniffed the air and continued on his way. He walked along that way, following Littlefoot's scent for the next several hours. Eventually the sky began to turn orange as the great circle descended towards the mountains. Chomper rested up against the side of a rock, completely worn out. His stomach growled. "I know, tummy. I know you're hungry, but I don't have any food for you right now."

But he knew he would need food, having not eaten since leaving the valley. Chomper stood up again and started to search. He sniffed along, looking for bugs and other small things. He found a colony of grubs under a rotting log, but even so his stomach yearned for more. Sharptooth was right. Chomper needed more than bugs to live.

While searching, he saw the body of a young spike frill (A/N: Styracosaurus) laying motionless. Driven by hunger, Chomper made his way slowly towards it. When he came to stand over it, he stopped. He swore to Littlefoot and his friends that he would never kill another dinosaur. And it just didn't seem right. He didn't want to become like Sharptooth, a merciless creature that lived only to destroy and kill, taking strength from others. But his belly ached for food. And besides, this dinosaur was already dead. He could eat something that dies on its own.

Chomper opened his mouth and bit down on the spike frill. Instantly the creature jolted up, screaming and wailing, kicking in all directions. Chomper pulled back, releasing the small dinosaur. It took off and ran away into the darkness. Chomper's heart raced. It was only asleep, not dead. He panted, calming himself down. As he began to turn away the ground under his feet started to rumble. This rumbling wasn't from an earthshake, this was more like footsteps. Many, many footsteps.

He looked back over his shoulder and his blood ran cold. And entire herd of spike frills came charging out of the shadows of the rocks. Over twenty full sized dinosaurs charged for Chomper, their huge horns all aimed right for him. Chomper screamed and started to run. His legs burned as he sprinted, kicking up a trail of dust in his wake, but the spike frills stayed right on his tail. He gasped for breath, struggling to keep himself going. But the spike frills would not give up their chase.

Chomper zigged and zagged though the maze of rocks, but no matter where he turned the stampeding dinosaurs would not let his escape. Chomper made a quick turn around a jutting rock and skid to a stop. His escape route was blocked. A dead end of dusty brown rocks. The snorting of the spike frills behind him caused Chomper's heart to pound in his chest. He backed up until his back was literally against the wall. No where to run, no where to hide.

The spike frills charged.

Chomper couldn't turn away from the impending doom. All his attention was focused on the pointed horn aimed right for him. He was going to die. He knew it. He closed his eyes and winced, awaiting the pain that would come.

As the lead spike frill came close, a dark shadow loomed overhead. It grew larger, falling over both Chomper and the plant-eater. Suddenly the spike frill's legs caved under it as the shadow caster crashed on its back, digging in claws and teeth. The herbivore cried out in pain. Chomper dared to open his eyes. The spike frill thrashed about with another large dinosaur on its back.

Sharptooth.

Sharptooth locked his jaws closed and yanked his head back, tearing a chunk of flesh from the plant-eaters back. The spike frill hollered in pain. Sharptooth quickly swallowed the meat before bringing his jaws to the creature's throat. With a sharp jerk, he tore the flesh away and kicked the dying animal aside. Sharptooth turned to the rest of the herd, which now stood in complete silence and fear.

The still warm blood dribbled down the face of Sharptooth. A growl developed in his throat and he bellowed a roar at the standing herd. They turned to run, but Sharptooth gave chase. He leapt into the air, coming down on the back of another spike frill. Again he dug in his claws and tore at its flesh.

The terrible carnivore moved from one dinosaur to the neck, his teeth and claws bringing death to each one. All Chomper could do was watch in horror and the entire herd fell to Sharptooth's strength. Repulsed, but unable to turn away, Chomper watched as Sharptooth held the last adult in the herd up by its neck. The spike frill struggled and kicked, squealing for its life. Sharptooth clenched his jaws and the horrible sound of snapping bone filled the air. The spike frill fell limp.

Chomper coward along the rock wall. Before him the field of death. A single survivor, the young spike frill. Paralyzed with fear. Sharptooth stepped over to the dinosaur and flicked it with his tail, sending the little creature to Chomper's feet. "Kill it."

"What?"

"That's the whole reason you got in trouble, isn't it? It would be a waste now not to. From now on, you only eat what you kill. I killed all these dinosaurs, but you've killed nothing. If you want to eat anything, you will kill that hatchling." Sharptooth then began to feed on the carcasses.

The hatchling spike frill shivered in fear. Chomper looked down, sorrowful at the poor desperate creature. With a quite whisper in leaf-eater speak, he said, "I'm sorry," and closed his jaws over the hatchling's throat, suffocating it.


	10. Past Reminded

**Past Reminded**

The young sharptooth, Chomper, slept contently beneath the starry night sky. The mostly eaten carcass of a young spike frill lay a short distance away. Watching from the rock outcrop above, the dark shadow of Sharptooth surveyed the seen. Scattered around the ground lay dozens of partially eaten bodies, all belonging to the same herd of spike frills. The scavengers had come, drawn by the scent of fresh blood and the promise of a feast. They picked away at the decaying bodies.

Sharptooth gave them no notice. His concern was with the small predator below him. He choose to follow Sharptooth for the sake of a friend, so much like what happened before. The great predator gazed up at the stars above and the great night circle which cast its silver light across the barren landscape. It was a night much like tonight. Over a hundred years ago, he met the love of his life. Razorclaw.

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They met on a hunt. He had been stalking a three-horn across the land for days and it was finally succumbing to fatigue. Just as he was about to take it, she appeared. Being upwind, Sharptooth never even noticed her until the moment she struck. She charged the three-horn head on and dug her claws in its flesh just before clenching her jaws around its neck. It was dead in seconds.

As she gorged herself on it, Sharptooth had approached. It was his hunt, his pray she had just taken. But she was significantly bigger and stronger then he, as a general rule female carnivores are more powerful than males. She just chased him away. Sharptooth didn't go far. Later that night, he returned. Most of the three-horn was left uneaten, the female sleeping not far away with a full stomach. Sharptooth approached with caution and as quietly as possible began to eat.

It wasn't as quiet as he had hoped. In a split second, the female awoke and attacked. She lunged at him, tackling him to the ground. She placed her foot atop his neck, pressing her claws against his throat. "I thought I chased you off. If you want to live, get the hell away from here."

Normally, this would've been enough to send him away. But he hadn't eaten in over a week and needed the food. Sharptooth summoned as much strength as he could and shoved her away. She staggered, obviously surprised that someone had managed to knock her back. Sharptooth rose to his feet. In retaliation, the two dinosaurs clashed with each other. The ground shook from the battle. For the whole night they fought, Sharptooth clearly at a disadvantage. At daybreak, he lay nearly dead at her feet, gasping for breath. She was not uninjured, her arm was broken in two places, a large gash cut in her leg, a blood from a broken tooth dribbled down her lips. She panted for air as well.

As Sharptooth lay on the ground, she limped back to the three-horn carcass. After a second, she returned carrying on of the legs and dropped it next to Sharptooth. "Eat." She stepped away and rested on the ground to nurse her wounds.

Sharptooth rose slowly up and closed his jaws over the meat. He ate it all greedily. Feeling a little stronger, he struggled to stand up. "Why did you do that?"

"I was impressed my your strength. No other male has ever tried to fight me and come out of it so well." Her tongue slid along the gash in her leg. "Perhaps we could work together to hunt and kill better pray, rather than starving ourselves or stealing food."

"I was doing fine until you came along and stole my food from me." Sharptooth retorted.

"Clearly. Chasing an animal to exhaustion before finally killing it, nearly killing yourself in the process." She got back up, looking down on Sharptooth. "Clearly the mindset of weakling. Rather than confront it and kill it up front in person."

"I do what I have to in order to survive."

"But survival is reserved for only the strongest."

"If that was the case, then why didn't you kill me just now. I was helpless and dying. And then why did you kill an already weakened dinosaur rather than find your own and fight it to death?"

She stepped forward and placed her face inches from his. "I don't need to explain myself to you. I gave you a choice, you can take it or not."

He snarled. "Very well. I accept."

"Good. You are my servant now. You shall call me Lady Razorclaw. And you are?"

"Sharptooth."

_Three Months Later…_

Razorclaw pushed the rocks and sticks of her nest around with her snout. Three eggs rested soundly in the nest. Sharptooth gazed down at the nest. "You need nourishment. After just laying those eggs, you're not as strong as you normally are."

"I don't need you to comment on my strength."

"But you are still in no condition to hunt competently." Sharptooth remarked. "I'll get some food for you."

"I never asked for your kindness." Razorclaw shot back.

"But I will bring back food for my hatchlings." Sharptooth started walking towards the mountains in the near distance. "A valley full of herbivores is not far off. I'll be back in less than a day."

As he set off, Razorclaw called off to him, "Be careful! Don't get yourself too hurt!"

He smiled back and nodded.

He trekked to the Great Valley, maneuvering his way though the rock maze of the land. He came to the gap in the great wall and emerged in the valley. A herd of longnecks looked up at him and were struck with horror. Sharptooth tore a tree out of the ground as he stepped into the valley, growling and snarling.

The longnecks screamed and started to run, moving as fast as they could. Sharptooth gave chase, storming after them. The ground shook beneath his feet with each thundering step, his claws sinking in the mud. Saliva dripped from his fangs.

As a they ran in fear, a young hatchling longneck tripped. His leg was caught in a root. He struggled, squirming and tugging, but his leg was trapped firm. "Mama!" He shouted. His voice trembled in desperation as Sharptooth closed in. A female longneck turned and raced back to her young. She grabbed hold of the baby longneck in her mouth and pulled him out from under the root, but it was too late. Sharptooth was upon them.

They quivered in fear in his presence, the shadow of a monster falling over them. Sharptooth opened his jaws as far as he could and was just about to kill when a familiar voice shouted above the chaos.

"SHARPTOOTH!" A shadow fell over the predator and prey and the ground shook from thundering footsteps.

Sharptooth looked up and saw a longneck, standing proud silhouetted against the setting sun. "Doc. What are you doing here?"

"Back off, Sharptooth." Doc raised his tail and slammed it back against the ground, shacking the earth. "I'll fight you myself. If you want them, you'll have to go through me."

Sharptooth grunted. "Fine." He stood opposite Doc, sizing him up. In an instant, Sharptooth charged, teeth bared. Doc stepped back and swung his tail. Sharptooth stopped just as the tail swished past his face.

Doc swung and missed, again and again. Sharptooth roared in aggravation. He charged in for an attack. A great impact slammed against his back and he crashed to the ground. Doc has managed to land a blow. Sharptooth bellowed a roar as shots of pain ran through his body.

"Leave, Sharptooth, before I start to fight for real." Doc held his tail at the ready.

Sharptooth struggled to stand back up, his legs shook beneath him. He shook his head to clear his hazy vision and turned to face Doc again. "I'm not leaving until I've killed something." He charged again, teeth bared.

Doc managed to evade the two rows of teeth, but a claw from Sharptooth's hand scraped the side of his face just above his eye. He cried out in pain, blood spilt down his face dripping across the ground. With Doc distracted, Sharptooth spun around and rammed headfirst into the large longneck. His lost his footing and Doc came crashing to the ground, the earth shook from the impact.

Standing above his fallen friend turned enemy, Sharptooth couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of regret and pity. In his own tongue, Sharptooth began to say, "My friend, and my worthy opponent, it is sad but probably fate that you had to die by my teeth. I only wish that-AAHH!"

While Sharptooth was giving his eulogy, Doc had wrapped his tail around the predator's leg. With a mighty tug, he toppled Sharptooth down. The carnivore fell and crashed headfirst into a jutting rock along side a small canyon. As the dust settled, Doc got back to his feet and stepped over to his fallen former-friend. Sharptooth began to stir just as Doc started to push him towards the canyon opening. With a final heave, Sharptooth fell over the edge and roared.

The giant predator lay at the bottom of the canyon for days, unable to move, unaware of where he was. However, a great earth shake awoke him from his coma. Once the ground subsided, he began to walk, following a small stream. His body ached, his vision blurry. He was hungry, and tired, yet he walked. Eventually he came to the end of the canyon and left it behind. He knew what would await him once he got back to the nest and to Razorclaw.

After a day of walking he finally managed to see the rocky labyrinth of their nesting sight. He maneuvered his way though the rocks until he caught the scent of the nest. But something was off. He could clearly smell blood in the air. Razorclaw must've made a kill when he didn't come back. He turned the corner of the rocks and found the nest. And a sight that burned itself in his mind.

Razorclaw lay dead in a pool of red. A trail of blood reached up the side of a jagged rock point. The eggs in the nest were all crushed, the white shells scattered around the embryos and egg remains. A half developed hatchling lay coated in his own egg casing. The bodies had all turned cold. All around the nest, footprints in red of a longneck. Only a single longneck.

Coldness filled Sharptooth from tooth to tail. A cold horror that tore at his heart. His body shook and trembled in anger. His jaw tightened as a deep rumbling grew in his throat. Unable to hold it back, he lifted his head to the sky and bellowed a thundering roar which split the air. "!" In the distance a flock of flyers took to the air in fear.

This was Doc's doing. He could feel it. This was Doc getting back at him. All this, everything that had happened to him, was because of Doc. That was when he made his choice. Doc would be made to pay. Not just Doc, but all longnecks. He would personally hunt them down one by one and slaughter them all. He would have vengeance, he would have blood.


	11. Pain Revirbirated

**Pain Revirberating**

In the Great Valley, an old longneck rested in the watering hole. Water from the thundering falls cascaded down, churning the water around in swirles. But even so, the old Longneck stood motionless. He stared down at the water, but didn't really see anything. His thoughts were elsewhere. As he stood here hest deep in the water all the could think about was his family, and all that had happened. His mate was dead, his daughter died long ago, and now his grandson had left. Everything he cared about was gone now. His heart ached and he shuddered. A tear fell from his eye and slashed, adding to the water below him.

"You seem to be taking all this rather well." Someone said.

He turned around and caught sight of the speaker. Another longneck, not quite his age, female. Dara. Doc's mate, whom he had left behind. "Good morning, Dara." Grandpa longneck addressed her, then turned back.

She stepped into the water and walked up nect to him. "I sympathize. I don't know exactly wht you feel, but it must be terrible."

Grandpa Longneck continue to stare at the ripples in the water. "I've lost everyting. I have nothing left to live for."

"Now don't say that. Littlefoot is still alive. He left the valley to keep you and everyone else here safe. You should be proud of him. He thinks of others always before himself. He's a brave boy. Plus he has Doc with him, so he'll be safe where ever he is." Dara stated. She dipped her head in the water, and pulled back, bringing a mouthful of water plants with her. She chewed on them for a few seconds just beore swallowing.

"I'm afraid I may never see him again. It's all over for me." Grandpa stepped out on shore, his head hung low as he walked towards the woods. Water fell off his great body.

Dara climbed out of the water after him. "It's not over. Doc will return with Littlefoot and when they do, you'll be amazed to see him. He'll be so grown up, big and strong. A longneck any grandparent would be proud of. And when they do, you'll know for a fact that Sharptooth will never cause problems for you or your family ever again."

"You sound so sure."

"I am sure. I know Doc, and he never lets anyone down. Trust me." Dara smiled, and started on her own way. As she walked away through the woods, she looked up to the sky, and the bright circle above. "DOn't make a liar of me, Doc."

_7 years later..._

A herd of traveling longnecks thundered across the plains. Their numbers ranging over forty strong, everything around them seemed to take notice. Their mighty legs, each as thick as tree trunks, pounded into the earth with a thundering boom. Mighty tails as long as theur necks swung from side to side. They seemed oblivious to everything around them.

A young female raised her head up higher than the rest and scouted the land. A small grove of trees to the west, a few solitary ones to the east next to a flowing river. Along the plains, small two-lagged dinosaurs scampered and jumped. Three Spike-tails drank from the river. She noticed nothing of importance.

"Ali, do you see anything?" Her mother called.

"Not much." She said back. In the years since she last visit the Great Valley, Ali had grown to almost 30 feet long and 15 feet tall at the shoulder.

"Alright, everyone." The Eldest of the herd said. She turned to face the mass of dinosaurs. "We'll head to the river and drink our fill before continuing." SHe changed direction, now moving to the river. The herd followd behind her.

Ali came up to the water, small waves splashing against her toes. She craned her head down to the cool surface and began to drink. Water rushed down her throat, cooling her from the inside. As she raised her head, shacking the water from her muzzle, she heard a loud roar. "RrrrrRRRRRAAAAOOOOORRRRrr!" It split the air and shook the leaves from the trees. The Spike-tails across the river paniced and started to run.

She turned to face the sound and saw a predator emerge from the grove of trees behind her. A large old sharptooth, deep green with one eye eld tightly shut. It stepped out of the shadows, sniffing the air and snarled. It faced tghe herd and roared again. Ali nudged her mother next to her. "Mom! Mom, look, a sharptooth!" Her mother rasied her head from the water and turned to face the predator.

Sharptooth stamped his feet against the ground. Slowly the herd began to turn and face him. The longnecks growled and a few raised to their hind legs and crashed back down, showing off their strength. Sharptooth didn't advance however. He waited. He watched as the shadows behind the trees on the far side of the river began to move, crouching closer to the distracted herd. The shadowy figure emerged from those trees and slinked into the river, quietly and quickly sinking beneath the water. Still the longnecks took no notice of this deep purple sharptooth. It swayed it tail back and forth in the water, propeling it forward and toward the unsuspecting prey.

Suddenly, the water exploded behind Ali and the herd. She turned to look and saw the huge jaws of another sharptooth close around the back of the longneck closest to her. She screamed in terror. The other longnecks paniced. As each saw the sharptooth behind them they took off running as fast as their legs could carry them. The purple sharptooth dragged his captive kicking and screaming into the river. The longneck trashed and screamed as the water around him turned red. Ali was unable to move, transfixed by the awful sight in front of her.

Another roar came from the green sharptooth as it began to charge. As the Elder Longneck tried to make her escape, Sharptooth collided with her, sinking his teeth into her shoulder. She cried out on agony, red blood squirting across the groung. Sharptooth yanked his jaws back, ripping a chunk of flesh away. The Old longneck hobbled away, blood pouring from the wound in her side. She didn't get far before she collasped from fatigue.

Ali finally found the strength in her legs to move. As she started to run, the purple sharptooth from the river raced after her. She looked over her shoulder, catching eyes with the predator. But as she did, her foot hooked on a rock and she tumbled to the ground. As the dust settled and she started to get back up, a powerful clawed foot slammed onto her back, forcing her back to the ground.

She looked up at the face of her attacker. The purple sharptooth. Saliva dripped from his beared teeth. But as she continued to look at him, she began to reognize him. Her voice caught in her throat as she spoke. "Chomper?"

The Sharptooth froze in surprise. He backed away, releasing his hold on her. "Ali?" He asked.

She got back to her feet and took off running as fast as she could. This time, Chomper did not follow. Instead, he turned around and walked back to the river. He stepped back into the water and grabbed the floating carcass of the other longnek. He dragged it back to shore next to the one killed by Sharptooth. "Why did you let that one go? You had her in your cluthces." Sharptooth scolded.

"I figured I already had food for today. I didn't need it."


	12. Herds Converge

**Herds Converge**

Standing in a clearing, a young adult longneck held his eyes closed, inhaled deeply and rhythmically. In one quick moment a small rock came flying at him from the trees. With one quick movement, without even opening his eyes or changing his breathing, he knocked it away with his tail.

A much older longneck emerged from the trees. His slate gray body was offset by the dark red scar that cut over his right eye. "Good job, Littlefoot. You've learned well."

The younger longneck opened his eyes and faced his mentor. "Thank you, Doc."

Doc motioned his head to the left. "Come. A familiar herd is approaching." Doc began to move, Littlefoot following behind. Littlefoot could feel it already, the vibrations of the herd's footprints as they thundered across the land. As Doc and Littlefoot emerged onto the plains, they caught sight of the herd. "My fellows!" Doc called out to them.

The longnecks of the herd each turned to look at the two. One of them, a elderly male, but not near as old as Doc, stepped forward. "It is good to see you again."

Doc and Littlefoot walked up to the herd, Doc looking around the various longnecks. "Where is the Old One?"

"Our leader, the Old One is dead." The Old Male said, stepping forward. "We were attacked not to long ago by a pair of sharpteeth who killed two of your herd members. The Old One was one of them."

"Hmmm. Seems unfortunate. What did these sharpteeth look like?" Doc asked.

"One was young and a deep purple color. The other was very old, but very strong. He was dark green and had his right eye closed the whole time." The Old Male said.

"Sharptooth?" Doc said. He turned back and glanced at Littlefoot. "So it seems he's causing trouble. But who was the younger one?"

Littlefoot stared intently at the ground. A much younger deep purple sharptooth, his thoughts automatically turned to his old friend. He looked back up to the herd of longnecks. "Did this younger sharptooth happen to speak Leaf-eater at any point?"

The herd each turned to the other and started muttereing. Until one young female stepped forward. "Yes, he did." She said.

"I was afraid of that." Littlefoot turned back to Doc. "That purple sharptooth was Chomper."

"Wait," the young female said, "how do you know that?"

Littlefoot turned back to her. As he looked he thought he saw something familiar about this girl. All of a sudden it hit him, as if a tree has just fallen on his head. "Ali? Is that you?"

"Littlefoot?" She asked. She bolted from the herd and crashed into Littlefoot, wrapping her neck around his. "It's been such a long time." She said as she pulled away. "What are you doing all the way out here?"

"Well," Littlefoot felt the heat raise in his face, "It's a long story."

"Go ahead and tell her. We're going to be traveling with this herd for a few days, so we have plenty of time." Doc said.

/

A adolescent pink threehorn scampered across fields of green grass and white fluff seeds. Two older threehorns, one pink like the child and one yellow, watched over her. The younger of the two, the yellow one, watched with harsh intent. Not a single step was missed by her.

The small pink threehorn found a small burrow in the ground and started to dig at it, playfully. She jumped away as a legless lizard slide out, hissing and rattling it's tail.

The yellow threehorn charged for the youngling, placing herself between the little trheehorn and the legless lizard. With a quick stomp, she slammed her foot down on the head of the hissing animal, crushing it.

"Cera," the elder pink threehorn said, "that was a little uncalled for. You could've hurt Tricia."

Cera turned to her. "I did it so that nothing would happen to Tricia. You should be more attentive of your child, Tria."

"I am more than capable of taking care of my own child. I don't need your help." Tria stepped nose to nose with Cera.

Cera didn't flinch. She knew that if push came to shove she could take Tria in a fight, now that her horns were fully developed. She scoffed and walked away, wiping the blood off her foot on the grass behind her. She continued to walk along until she came to the watering hole. She laid down and rested by the cool water. Allowing her eyes to slowly close she drifted off to sleep. That is until some familiar voice awoke her.

"Cera! Cera! Get up!" A light green bigmouth ran up to her, along with a green spiketail and a brown flyer perched on his back plates.

Cera's eyes lifted open. "What is it, Ducky?"

"It's Grandpa Longneck! Something's wrong with him!" Ducky proclaimed.

Cera rose to her feet. "What do you mean 'something's wrong'?"

"Just follow us and we'll show you." Ducky took off back towards the forest with Spike and Petrie in tow. Cera trotted on after them.

They emerged in the clearing of Littlefoot's old nesting grounds. Laying on his side in the middle of the field was Grandpa Longneck. His breathing was labored and only came out in small gasping breaths. Dara stood watching over him.

Cera gasped when she saw. "Dara, what's wrong?"

Dara looked up at her. She shook her head slowly. "He's just old, Cera. Nothing more than that."

"Is there anything we can do for him?" Cera asked.

Again, Dara shook her head. "His time is short now."

"Littlefoot..." Grandpa said in a hushed whisper. Their attention shifted down to him on the ground. "...Littlefoot..."

Cera clenched her eyes. "Ducky, Petrie, Spike...I'm leaving."

"What?" Ducky asked.

"I'm going to find Littlefoot. Grandpa is dying, and Littlefoot needs to be here for him." She said. Cera turned away and started walking off to the Great Wall.


	13. A Promise

**A Promise**

The sky burned orange and red as the Bright Circle sank behind the mountains. Shadows lengthened as the land was covered in darkness. Littlefoot and Ali watched from a cliff as the rest of the herd settled down for the night. Ali sighed. "It was really nice to see you again." She nuzzled her head up against his neck.

"You too, Ali." Littlefoot returned her gesture. "But I can't stay too long. Doc already told me, we leave tomorrow."

"Why?"

"Sharptooth is following me. I already told you how he wants revenge against Doc and me. And Chomper…I have to find out the truth about him." Littlefoot said, glancing down at the canyon below. "I still don't understand why Chomper would choose to join Sharptooth. It doesn't make any sense to me. Are you sure you saw Chomper?"

"He called me by name. I haven't met any other sharptooth that can speak leaf-eater. It can't be anyone else." She said.

Littlefoot stared down into the growing darkness of the canyon below. A darkness also growing in his heart. He'd watched Chomper hatch, protected him as a baby and was protected in turn when Chomper grew older. They'd been together for so long, and now to learn that his friend had joined with the dinosaur who'd killed his mother and grandmother, as well as killed Cera's father and hunted him across the land for seven years now. It was enough to make Littlefoot snap.

He slammed his foot against the ground and screamed, "GrrAAAHH!" A chunk of rock dislodged from the cliff side and cascaded down to the canyon below.

Ali jumped and stepped away. A look of fear came over her face. "Littlefoot, you're scaring me."

He sighed. "I'm sorry. I just don't know how to handle this."

Doc watched from a distance away. The new leader of the herd came up to him. "Old friend, something is on your mind."

Doc nodded in agreement. "Hmm. Littlefoot is grown now. Not much more I can teach him. I can feel my body giving out on me. I'm not as strong as I used to be."

"Happens to the best of us." The herd leader said. "And considering your age, I'd say you're doing just fine."

"I can feel it in my bones. I'm not going to last much longer." Doc said.

"Do you feel weak or tired?"

Doc shook his head. "No, and that's the strange thing. On the whole, I feel fine." He looked over at the herd leader. "Did I ever tell you how Sharptooth and I became enemies?" The other longneck shook his head. "I told this story to Littlefoot already. You see, a long time ago…"

_120 years ago…_

A young longneck and big biter jumped and ran alongside each other, laughing the whole time. They came upon a small pond and the longneck dove in head first, spashing water all over the big biter.

The big biter jumped in the water after him. His tail swished back and forth, propelling him through the water. The longneck emerged from the water, slapping his tail against the surface and drenching the big biter again.

They laughed. It was a normal day, the two of them playing and having fun. However, their fun soon came to an end. The ground began to shake as the sound of approaching footsteps began to shake the air. A pair of longnecks approached. They looked down with disgust and anger at the big biter. "Doc," the female said, "get out of there. We've told you to stop playing with that monster."

"Mom," Doc said, "Sharptooth is my friend, not a monster."

"It's a cold blooded monster, son." The father said. "He's twisted your mind. I see we have to get rid of him for good."

"You will do no such thing!" A loud growling raspy voice shouted. Another set of thundering footsteps signaled the arrival of a pair of Big Biters. The predators towered over Doc and Sharptooth. The Longnecks and Big Biters glared off at each other for several minutes. At last, the mother Big Biter looked down at her hatchling. "Come along, Sharptooth, leave the flat heads to themselves."

Sharptooth looked back and forth from his parents to Doc. At last he climbed out of the pond and walked away with his family.

Doc turned to his parents. "Why do you chase him away all the time?"

"It's unnatural for you to play with a Big Biter. Nothing good can come from it. In the end, the two of you will only fight some day. Doc, we are doing this for your own good." His father said.

"But isn't having friends for my own good, too?"

"There are plenty of other Longnecks for you to be friends with, you don't need that 'thing' as your friend." His mother said.

Doc huffed and sank into the water until it was up to his head.

Late that night, Doc lay asleep with his head and tail turned inward around himself. His sleep was disturbed when he felt someone pushing against his head. Doc lazily opened his eyes and yawned, "Oh, who is it?" Once he could see clearly, he recognized the face of a young dark green Big Biter. "Sharptooth? What are you doing here?"

"I'm running away." Sharptooth whispered.

"You're what?"

"Running away. We can't be together if we stay here. Come away with me."

Doc hesitated. "I don't know. What will our parents do?"

"Don't worry about that. We're strong enough to take care of ourselves now. And I'm not leaving without you. You are my Gralnuk. The person I trust most in this world."

Doc nodded slowly. "Alright then. I'll go. Just promise me one thing."

"Yes?"

"Promise me, that even when you grow older and are forced to hunt for food, you never hunt or eat Longnecks." Doc said.

Sharptooth nodded furiously. "I promise. I swear I will never kill or hurt a Longneck."

Doc smiled and got up on his feet. "Then let's go."

_Years later…_

A young female Longneck ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She twisted her head to look back. The pack of Fast Biters still followed her, keeping pace with her every step. They snapped their jaws at her heels, leaving small nicks and cuts in her feet.

She winced with each step, but still continued to run. Finally, her feet gave out beneath her and she crashed to the ground. The Fast Biters where upon her in seconds. Their claws and teeth dug into her hide. She squirmed and screamed, but she knew it made no difference. She was going to die here.

Suddenly, a loud powerful roar shook the air and the Fast Biters all stopped. A large shadow fell over the Longneck and Fast Biters. They gazed in fear at the Big Biter. It growled and roared again, the Fast Biters fleeing in terror at this much more powerful predator.

The female Longneck trembled in terror. The Big Biter gazed down on her. "Are you alright?" He asked.

Her voice caught in her throat. Never had she heard, or even expected a Big Biter to speak the Leaf-Eater language. Another Longneck walked up beside the Big Biter. "It's okay, you don't have to be afraid. My name is Doc and this is Sharptooth."

She stuttered and formed words. "I'm Selena."

"Nice to meet you, Selena." Doc nodded. He helped her get back on her feet. She stumbled for a second, and Sharptooth caught her. She jumped back. "It's okay, you don't have to worry about him. He's sworn to never kill a Longneck."

"How comforting." She said.


	14. A Promise Broken

**A Promise Broken**

Despite feeling afraid of Sharptooth, Selena decided to travel with him and Doc, at least until she found her own herd. They traveled together for a few months until one day when Sharptooth was out on a hunt. Selena and Doc were browsing on a grove of trees at the edge of a forest. They had slowly wandered apart, not on purpose, but just because of mindless eating.

As Selena reached for another branch of tree stars, a low growl came from the trees. She started to back away, but then a Big Biter came charging out. It roared and saliva slide from its fangs. Two small horns rose over its eyes and its scales were a blood red (Carnotaurus). Selena screamed and turned to run. But the Big Biter slammed it's jaws closed over her leg. Blood spurted on its face.

Selena cried out in pain. She tried to hobble, but she couldn't keep her legs under her. The red Big Biter released it's hold on her leg and walked up to her neck. It was about to close it's jaws over her throat when another Big Biter's roar split the air.

The red Big Biter turned and looked. A dark green predator, larger than the red one stood in the distance. It roared again and the red Big Biter retreated back into the forest. The green Big Biter, Sharptooth came over to Selena and helped to push her back up. "Sorry it took so long. I was busy."

"I'm sure you were." She said.

"There is no need for that. I realize you still don't trust me, but I did just save your life." Sharptooth replied. "Again."

"Yes, you did and I am grateful." Selena brushed him off and walked back into the woods. She found Doc a short time later. After he inquired about her injury, she told him, "A Big Biter attacked. It's okay, Sharptooth scared it away. Not that I needed his help."

Doc shook his head. "Don't be so critical. He just wants to be your friend."

"I don't need the friendship of a Big Biter. I'll be much better off once I get back to my own herd."

/

Weeks past. The trio continued to travel, but as time went by, Sharptooth began to grow slower and weaker. He hadn't eaten anything in days. As they walked through a maze of large jagged rocks, his vision began to blur, his senses dulled. His legs started to give out from under him, causing the predator to stumble. He managed to catch himself before collapsing.

"Sharptooth," Doc craned his head back to look at him, "are you alright?"

"Just fine." Sharptooth lied. He tried to take a step forward, but lost his balance and fell. The ground shook upon impact.

"Sharptooth!" Doc charged over to his fallen friend, pulling him back to his feet. Sharptooth panted and gasped for air when Doc finally managed to prop him back up. "When was the last time you ate anything?"

"Oh, I'm not hungry." He lied again.

Doc sighed. He rested Sharptooth back on the ground and turned to Selena. "We need to find food for him."

"WHAT?!" She shouted. "You want us to go hunting for him?! Are you insane?"

"Not hunting. Scavenging. If we can find something dead and bring it back, he won't have to hunt." Doc said.

Selena shook her head. "I can't believe your considering that. He's a Big Biter. A predator. Given the chance, he would kill us both. If he's this weak and tired, just leave him. The world will be better off with one less."

"I can't do that. He's my friend. My _gralnuk._" Doc said.

"What?"

"_Gralnuk_, a Big Biter word meaning 'most trusted person.' I trust him with my life, and he trusts me. Can I trust you to stay with him? I can tell scavenging makes you feel uncomfortable, so if you could just watch him while I go searching for food for him."

Selena glanced over at Sharptooth. He lay on the ground, his breathing heavy and labored, both eyes closed. To her, he seemed pitiful. Depressingly pitiful. He was depending on them to save him at this point. She sighed in resignation. "Alright. I'll stay here with him. Just hurry back, okay?"

Doc smiled. He wrapped his neck around hers. "Thank you. I'll be back as soon as I can." He left, walking off deeper into the maze of rocks.

Selena simply stood in surprise. She hadn't expected Doc to show that kind of affection. Part of her liked it. Males of her old herd rarely showed any such affections towards her. She smiled at the thought. Doc wasn't a bad longneck, and to go so far for the sake of a friend, even if that friend was a Big Biter.

She glanced back over at Sharptooth, still resting on the ground. Both his eyes closed and his chest raising with every breath. Really, he wasn't bad either. He did save her from other predators twice now. Maybe there was something here between them now.

The Great Circle moved across the sky, growing closer to the ground and stretching the shadows. The sky burned a bright orange. Still Doc had not returned. Selena's tail wiped impatiently from side to side, her legs folded up under her as she rested. Who knew it would take so long to find a dead animal? She would have to give carnivores more credit, for her food just grew out of the ground. For them, they had to search for it, often for days on end. Must get frustrating. She turned to look over at Sharptooth. He lay on the ground much as he did before, but now he didn't move.

No breathing sounds, no movements at all. Selena's breath was caught in her throat. She jumped up as fast as she could and raced over to him. She nudged him with her foot, shaking him back and forth. "Sharptooth! Sharptooth, get up!" She shouted.

Suddenly, Sharptooth's eyes snapped open and for a brief moment, Selena was relieved. That is until Sharptooth's jaws swung around and clamped down around her front foot. Two rows of serrated teeth dug into Selena's leg, tearing her flesh and slipping blood. She screamed and tried to pull away, but Sharptooth held firm. The taste of blood had awaken his predatory instints, and with his stomach as empty as it was there was no way he would let his prey escape.

He yanked on her leg with all his strength and Selena collapsed to the ground next to him. She cried out in pain from the impact as well as the continued pain in her leg. Sharptooth finally released his grip, only to press her against the ground with his clawed talons. The sharp tips of those also drew blood.

Selena stared up in terror at the blood soaked muzzle of the predator. "Please," she weeped. "Don't do this. We're friends, remember? Sharptooth, listen to me."

He couldn't hear her. His vision and hearing still blurred and dulled by his hunger. All he saw was prey. In an instant, he locked his jaws around her neck and crushed her windpipe. Blood sprayed across his face, as well as painting the ground red. Selena tried to scream, but no sound escaped her mouth. Only the quivering of her eyes and mouth signaled her demise as the life blood flowed from her body. Her body fell limp, her neck dangling pathetically from Sharptooth jaws.

With no hesitation, Sharptooth released his grip on her neck and greedily dug into her carcass, tearing away huge chunks of flesh and swallowing just in time to reach for more.

/

Doc held an Egg Stealer in his mouth by it's tail. Carrion was hard to find out here, but he'd finally managed to stumble across something. It might not be much, but it would be enough to get Sharptooth back on his feet for a while anyways. As he neared the place he left Selena and Sharptooth, a strong odor filled his nostrils. It was a scent Doc recognized, the scent of blood. Maybe Sharptooth had managed to catch something after all, which was good news to Doc. It would mean they wouldn't have to stop again for a while. It was with that thought in his head that Doc rounded the corner and came upon their camping spot.

The Egg Stealer dropped from Doc's mouth and crumpled against the ground in a heap. Doc paid it no attention. Before him rested the partially eaten body of Selena. Her blood soaked into the ground surrounding her. Ribs protruded grotesquely from her carcass. And asleep not far from that, was Sharptooth. His muzzle and clawed feet drenched in blood and stomach stuffed.

Doc stared, caught in the revolting terror before him. Unable to contain himself anymore, he stampeded over to Sharptooth. Each footstep a thunder fall. Sharptooth gradually awoke as the booming grew louder. He turned in the direction of the sound only to find Doc barreling down on him. He bolted to his feet and out of the way just as Doc's powerful feet crashed into the earth where he'd just been resting.

Sharptooth backed away as Doc glared with intense rage. "How? How could you do this?!" Doc's teeth clenched. His voice cracked.

Sharptooth looked at Doc, then to Selena's lifeless body, and then back to Doc. Only now, after his hunger had been satiated did he realize what he'd done. "Doc, I swear to you, this was an accident. I didn't mean-"

Doc swung his massive tail and struck Sharptooth across the head, sending the carnivore cascading to the ground. "An accident!? How is killing and eating someone an accident!? You promised me, I trusted you! She trusted you! And you betrayed us."

Sharptooth crawled back to his feet, faceing Doc eye to eye. "It was a moment of weakness. I never wanted to hurt her."

Doc reared up on his hind legs, bringing his full weight crashing back to the earth, shaking the ground. "I don't want to hear it! You swore to never harm a longneck! You were my friend! I left my family for you, and you go and do this!?" Doc's voice grew strained and ragged. "Go away! I never want to see you ever again!"

Sharptooth felt as if a spike and dug its way through his chest. With reluctance, he turned away and left his friend. The friendship he had given everything for, and now had lost.

Once Sharptooth was out of view, Doc turned back to Selena's body. Her eyes and mouth still gaping open. Gingerly, choking back pain and tears, Doc placed the tip of his tail over her eyes and closed them. He then left. Unable to do anything else for her, leaving her body to the scavengers.

_120 years later…_

Doc finished his story. The western horizon burned red as the Bright Circle slowly dipped out of sight. The sky was almost completely dark with the Night Circle casting a silver shine over the earth and tiny stars like diamonds sparkling. Had he really been talking for so long? The memories had left him exhausted, to say the least.

"Doc," the leader of the herd said, "are you alright friend? You suddenly fell silent."

Doc nodded slowly. "Yes. Just, memories can pain me at times." He glanced back over at Littlefoot and Ali, still nestled against each other by the canyon's edge. Young friendships and romance, Doc thought. How it was to be young.

A loud roar split the evening air. "RrrrrRRRRRAAAAWWWWWRRRRrrr!" All the longnecks, even those just about to sleep, jolted up. Doc twisted his head around in the direction the roar had come. On a nearby rock outcrop, silhouetted against the Night Circle stood two figures. Doc recognized them all to well.

Littlefoot walked up and stood beside him. "Is it?"

"Yes," Doc confirmed. "Sharptooth."


	15. Requiem of the Lone Dinosaur

**Requiem of the Lone Dinosaur**

The longnecks gazed up in horror at the black figure against the moon. Two of them, two sharpteeth. Many of the young longnecks quivered in fear, running to hide behind their parent's legs. "He came back for us!" One of them screamed. "He came back to kill us!"

"Nobody panic." The leader said. "Everyone, we move together down into the canyon along our migration path. The sharpteeth will be hard pressed to follow us."

"It won't matter! They'll still come after us!" Another shouted.

"DOC!" A loud powerful voice shouted from the top of the rock outcrop. Sharptooth's voice.

Doc and Littlefoot looked at each other. "I figured it was only a matter of time." Doc said. "He's finally caught up to us."

Littlefoot look back to the outcrop above them. "But how? How did he find us? How did he know we were here?"

"It was me." Ali spoke in a whisper. Doc and Littlefoot looked back to her. Ali held her head down in shame. "Chomper saw and recognized me. He must've told Sharptooth about me, and followed in hopes of finding you again."

Doc turned away from her. "It doesn't matter how. Just that they have."

The leader motioned his head over to the canyon entrance. "Come along, everyone. Two by two into the canyon as usual." Slowly at first, the longneck herd began to move down into the ravine.

Doc scanned across the gathered longnecks. Fear, desperation, terror. The herd was moving too slow, they would never get across the canyon in time. Doc knew what had to be done. He turned to Littlefoot. "I want you to go with them."

"What do you mean?"

"I want you to follow the herd at the rear, protect them. Incase anything should happen." Doc said.

"Doc, I don't like where this is going." Littlefoot said.

Doc looked along the edge of the canyon. "The herd doesn't walk around the canyon because the ledge is too unstable. I will draw Sharptooth over there and possibly buy enough time for the herd to escape."

Littlefoot stepped over and looked Doc straight in the eye. "Doc, don't you dare do what I think you're doing. Don't sacrifice yourself like this."

Doc looked back over his shoulder. "I'm not." He lied. "I'm just going to draw them off." He looked over at Ali, and then back to Littlefoot. "Don't worry, I'll meet you again at the Rock that looks like a Longneck. Understand?"

The two longneck's stood eye to eye with each other, neither moving. Finally, Littlefoot relented. "Alright." He turned and followed behind the herd, Ali right next to him.

/

Sharptooth and Chomper approached the mouth of the ravine. Gazing into the darkness, Sharptooth saw the feint outlines of the longnecks. Low rumbles escaped from his throat. Now was the time, it had come. Just as he started to move in after them, a noise caught his attention.

"SHARPTOOTH!" Up on the ledge of the ravine, Doc stood against the starry night sky. "You want me, Sharptooth!? Here I am!"

Sharptooth curled back his lips as he snarled. Ahead of him in the canyon was his prey, the runt longneck who'd blinded his right eye and almost killed him. But up on the cliff side stood his old rival and the longneck he'd hated most. He found himself at an impasse.

The great predator turned to face his younger apprentice. "You follow the herd. My business is with Doc tonight." The younger dinosaur nodded, and Sharptooth set off up the gradual slope to the canyon edge.

/

Littlefoot watched as Sharptooth walked away, leaving only one carnivore behind the herd. He didn't what to admit it, but in his heart Littlefoot knew that the other sharptooth was Chomper.

As Sharptooth walked away, Chomper entered the canyon after the herd. Littlefoot nudged Ali. "Keep moving." He said. They quickened their pace as much as possible, but even so, Chomper was steadily gaining on them.

But why? Why was Chomper doing this? Why did Chomper join Sharptooth? It didn't make any sense. Even with his friend baring down on him, Littlefoot found it hard to understand it at all.

/

Doc and Sharptooth faced each other. The two ancient titans waiting with anticipation for the other to make the first move. A low rumble echoed in Sharptooth's throat. Finally, it was Doc who broke the silence. "It's been a long time coming, hasn't it?"

"Yes," Sharptooth growled. "It has." Without another moment, the great predator charged, teeth bared, saliva dripping from his fangs. Doc swung his massive tail, striking the carnivore across the face and sending him crashing to the earth. Sharptooth kicked in the air as he righted himself. A growl rumbled from deep in his throat. He roared and snapped his jaws at Doc again.

Doc reared back on his hind legs, Sharptooth's teeth clashing inches away from his neck. He brought his legs, both thick as tree trunks, down on Sharptooth. The carnivore stepped back, out of range of Doc powerful legs. Doc used his momentum and whipped his neck around, slamming his head against Sharptooth, knocking the predator back again.

Rocks tumbled down the canyon walls, tapping against Littlefoot's head. Looking up, he saw the two of them. Doc and Sharptooth lunging and snapping at each other. The Cliffside was beginning to crack under the stress of their fight. It wouldn't hold much longer.

Sharptooth was dazed, but only momentarily. Shaking his head, he regained his senses and snapped at Doc again. His jaws slammed with a bone-crunching snap. Doc twisted his mighty body to the side and swung his tail again. As his tail collided with Sharptooth, the predator wrapped his mouth around it. His sharp, serrated teeth ripped through Doc's flesh.

Doc growled in pain. He yanked and pulled on his tail, but Sharptooth held firm. With a glint of hatred in his eye, Sharptooth jerked his head from side to side. His teeth tore into Doc's tail, blood sprayed across his face. Doc raised up on his hind legs and crashed back to the ground. Cracks formed in the rock from the impact. Again and again, Doc slammed his feet into the ground and the cracks grew wider each time.

/

Littlefoot stopped. After a brief moments hesitation, he turned around. When Ali noticed he was not with her anymore, she glanced back to see him waiting. "Littlefoot!" She shouted. "What are you doing?"

"I have to know why." Was his reply before walking back down the canyon to face Chomper. Ali looked down the revine to her herd, then back to Littlefoot and again back to the herd. What should she do? Follow them to safety or support her friend? She did not want to leave him, but could she also abandon her family? With a sigh of annoyance and desperation, she headed after the herd.

Littlefoot and Chomper faced each other. The tension thick and silence ringed. So long had passed since they last saw the other. Chomper didn't know what to think. This was his friend, the one who saved his life and who he in turn saved as well. Now they found themselves on opposite sides.

Finally, Littlefoot broke the silence. "Why? Why did you do this? Why are you traveling with Sharptooth?"

Chomper scratched at the ground briefly, before answering. "Because you left us. Cera, Spike, Ducky, Petrie, your grandfather. You ran off and left us. I followed you so that I could bring you back."

"So you decided to join with Sharptooth? He's a monster! He killed my mother, Chomper! He's trying to kill me! And Doc told me how he killed Selena, their friend over a hundred years ago. Why would you go with him?"

Chomper met the gaze of his friend. "There was no one else." Littlefoot scoffed and Chomper continued. "And don't think that Doc is any better. Yes, Sharptooth told me about Selena and how in blind hunger his instincts drove him to kill,"

"Ha, blind instinct." Littlefoot laughed.

"But he also told me about Razorclaw. His mate from a hundred years ago. And how she was murdered by Doc. She and their nest. Doc had no excuse to kill her except for revenge. Sharptooth was driven by hunger and instinct, Doc was driven by vengeance. Who is the bigger monster?"

"As if I would trust anything said by Sharptooth. And even if it is true, would that excuse the century of killing Sharptooth has done since then? I don't buy it." Littlefoot retorted.

Chomper shook his head. "It is clear words are useless now. I don't want to do this. You are my friend, my _Gralnuk. _But I'll do what I must."

"If that's they way it has to be." Littlefoot took one step forward as a rock crashed to the ground between him and Chomper. Looking skyward, they both saw the canyon side beginning to give way.

/

With one final stomp, the ground gave way beneath Doc's feet. Rocks crumbled and fell, cascading down into the ravine below. Doc began to slide with the rocks as they gave under his weight. Sharptooth saw what was happening. This was all Doc's plan. He'd wanted to lure Sharptooth up here and kill them both! He wasn't having any other that. Releasing his hold on Doc's tail, Sharptooth turned to run.

But even as he did, Doc slipped his badly injured tail around Sharptooth's leg, causing the carnivore to trip and crash to the ground. "Not this time, old friend!" Doc sneered. "Today, we bring this to an end!"

"Maybe for you, but I have too much left to do. This will not be my grave!" He sank his teeth back into the same spot in Doc tail and yanked, tearing away a huge chunk of flesh. The end of his tail broke away, and Doc watched in horror as he fell, leaving his old friend and nemesis on the cliff side.

The rocks tumbled down the canyon, crashing together between Chomper and Littlefoot, blocking them off from the other side. Following the rocks, Doc came smashing to the ground. His old bones snapped and cracked under his own weight as he rolled from the top of the stone barrier to the soft dirt below.

Littlefoot watched in horror at the sight of his mentor, broken and bloody before him. He ran to the old longneck's side. "Doc! Doc! Can you hear me!? Please!"

The old longneck's eyes fluttered and opened. His body was wracked with immeasurable pain. He was already feeling cold, knowing his life was slipping away. He caught sight of Littlefoot, his young student. The one companion he'd had the longest since Sharptooth himself. To himself, Doc could only think of Littlefoot as the closest he'd ever come to having a son.

But as Littlefoot watched his mentor die, the one longneck who'd taught him everything he knew about fighting, he could only ask one question. "Doc, is it true you killed Sharptooth's mate and nest?"

What a bizarre question, Doc thought. How was he to know that? But then he remembered. Just after defeating Sharptooth in the Great Valley and having the fresh scar over his eye, Doc had been attacked by another sharptooth. This one a female. Half blinded by the blood in his eye, Doc struck her along the side of the head and smashed her against a jutting rock, crushing her skull. In his surprise, he stepped away and felt the crushing of eggs under his feet.

That was a hundred years ago. Now it began to make sense to him. That was why Sharptooth hate all longnecks. The same crime Sharptooth had committed to Selena, Doc had inadvertently done himself. And echoing Sharptooth own statement, Doc could only utter, "It was an accident." With that, his life gave out and his eyes slipped closed.

The Lone Dinosaur was dead.


	16. Lost

**Lost**

Cold.

Littlefoot placed his foot against Doc's motionless body. Broken and lifeless, cold as the empty sky. Littlefoot could only stare down at his fallen mentor in silent horror. The one who taught him everything, the longneck that had watched over him and guided him for seven long years, now lay dead at his feet.

Slowly, laboriously, Littlefoot looked up and landslide Doc had caused. In his final moments, he had managed to block the only passageway through the ravine. Now with Sharptooth and Comper effectively trapped on the other side, Littlefoot, Ali, and the rest of the herd were safe.

Despite being remised at himself, Littlefoot turned from the body of his mentor and friend. He started down the canyon, following the trail of the herd. He stole only one glance back, seeing not only Doc's body, but also the wall now separating him from Comper.

Was that to be the case now? Separation between them?

/

Unbeknownst to Littlefoot, Chomper had likewise turned back and started making his way out of the ravine. Sharptooth met the younger carnivore at the mouth of the canyon. "Curse him." Sharptooth snarled. "Even in death, Doc is a thorn in my side." He snorted and stomped the ground. "GrrRRAAA!" Sharptooth stormed away, crater-like footprints left in his wake.

Chomper started after him, stopping only for a moment to look back. A wall separating him from Littlefoot.

/

Ali and the rest of the herd waited at the far end of the ravine. She anxiously kicked that the dirt and flicked her tail back and forth as she waited for Littlefoot and Doc to emerge. She'd heard the roars and screams from Sharptooth and Doc fighting, as well as felt the landslide.

Please let him be okay. Please to all that is good, let him come back to her.

A shape began to form in the dark. Ali's breath caught in her throat, she deared not to breath. Was this Littlefoot, Doc, or worst of all Sharptooth?

A gasp of total relief and exhilaration escaped her lips as Littlefoot stepped out. Forgetting all pretences, she rushed for him. Wrapping her neck around him and nuzzling his face against hers. As overjoyed as she was to see him, a bit or worry began to creep in as he did not return her affections. "Littlefoot, what's wrong?" She stepped away to see him face to face. "Where's Doc?"

Littlefoot's gaze never left the ground. He slowly stepped passed Ali before replying, "He's dead."

Ali gasped. "Oh, Littlefoot. I'm so sorry." She walked along side him and caressed her face against his. This time, Littlefoot returned the gesture.

After a long moment of silence, Littlefoot finally spoke again. "Today I saw my hero fall apart, the one who taught me to be strong. On the outside I look fine, but on the inside I'm dying. I don't know what to do anymore. Where can I go?"

"Stay with me." Ali shocked herself with those words. "You can stay with the herd. It'll be safer for you."

Littlefoot shook his head. "No, I'll only be endangering everyone. Sharptooth will still follow me. I need to be as far away from you as possible."

"No!" Ali shouted. "I need-" She caught herself. "You need to be with us. The strength of the herd can keep Sharptooth away. And with you, we can fend off any attack."

"Ali, listen to me." Littlefoot's tone was sharp and harsh. "It doesn't matter, he'll just kill you and the entire herd to get to me. I have to leave. And you can't convince me otherwise." The two faced each other, one determined and the other disappointed. Upon seeing the sadness in her eyes, Littlefoot sighed. "But I can tell you where I'm going."

"Yes?"

"Before he confronted Sharptooth, Doc said to go to the Rock that looked like a Longneck. It was one of the landmarks on my first journey to the Great Valley. It's the last thing he told me. So that's where I'm going."

/

"Cera, I tell you! We're lost!" Petrie shouted. He'd been flying overhead for a few hours now, circling and searching. So far, nothing.

"You don't have to shout at me!" Cera continued plodding through the Mysterious Beyond. Trying to pick up Littlefoot's trail, especially after so many years, was nearly impossible. Not helped by the fact that Cera wasn't good at tracking.

"Cera, can't we take a break?" Ducky asked. The duckbill leaned against her spike tail brother. Having grown to large to simply ride on his back anymore, she was forced to walk herself. "We've been walking for hours and have no idea where we're even going. No no no."

Cera turned to face her. "Maybe you've forgotten, but Grandpa is dying. The last thing I want is for him to go without ever seeing his grandson again. We don't have time to rest."

Along the rocky hillside to her right, a stream of pebbles dislodged and rolled down. She looked up at where they'd fallen from. Nothing. But this area was filled with large rocks and pointed outcrops. A good place for an ambush. "Petrie! Do you see anything? Any sharpteeth anywhere?"

"Not that I see!" Petrie replied.

"Hm." Cera was not totally convinced. She continued on, sweeping her eyes over the rocks to all sides of her.

Unbeknownst to her, they were being stalked. A pack of Fast Biters watched the three large herbivores. Behind the jagged rocks, the swift predators moved back and forth. Of the three, the duckbill was the obvious target. Less armor and weapons than the spike tail or the three horn, and also succumbing to fatigue. She would be easy prey. The lead Fast Biter let out a series of clicks and growls to inform the rest of the pack. The hunters circled into position. Upon the leader's signal, they raced in to attack.

Up in the air, Petrie's eye caught the movement of the Fast Biters. "Ducky! Look out!" He shouted. Too late, the Fast Biters leapt from their hiding places and attacked.

Ducky only had a moment to react before the Fast Biters where on her. They clawed and scratched at her hide. She screamed and shook her body, throwing some of them off. Kicking and screaming, swinging her tail as hard as she could, she fought them. But some of them had latched on with too much force and held firm. As much as Ducky squirmed, she couldn't shake them off.

Suddenly, one of them was wrenched away and thrown through the air. Spike swung his tail and caught another one, sending it flying as well. The Fast Biters scrambled back to their feet, snarling and hissing. Spike just growled back and swung his tail again. One unfortunate Fast Biter didn't move fast enough and was caught on his spikes. The long pointed weapons embedded themselves deep in the predators body, snapping bone as it did.

Cera charged at the carnivores, waving her horns from side to side. The Fast Biters sprinted and ran, dodging the attacks. They snapped and hissed at Cera. The last few on Ducky jumped off and ran as well. The predators retreated, but they didn't go far. They formed a line on the path, watching the herbivores and waiting for another opportunity.

With all of them conveniently standing in front of her, Cera counted. Seven Fast Biters in total. Eight if she included the one Spike had killed. Even with Spike and Petrie's help, she would be hard pressed to fight them all off. One of them ran forward and snapped at Cera's heels. She pulled back her leg, and charged at the attacker. It ran back, only for another Fast Biter to snap at her. When she lunged to attack that one, it retreated and another one attacked.

She knew what they were doing. Tiring her out, making her too weak to defend herself before they all could rush in and finish her off. Classic hunting technique.

And effective.

As another Fast Biter charged in to attack, a dark form took shape over it. It descended down and slammed into the carnivore, sending the Fast Biter crashing face first to the ground. Without a moments hesitation, Cera brought her foot down on the predator's head, crushing it like an eggshell.

The thing that attacked the Fast Biter was a flyer. At first, Cera thought it might be Petrie, but upon getting a better look, she saw just how different it was. This flyer was a reddish brown with a long bill and crest. She could recognize him all too well.

Pterano.

The flyer circled overhead before he swooped down to dive bomb again. The Fast Biters hissed and snarled at him, a few even snapped their teeth and slashed at Pterano as he flew passed. He was moving too fast for them to hit. All their efforts were concentrated on trying to hit him, and Cera realized this.

Seizing the opportunity, she charged. Head down, horns forward, she raced right into the pack. Cera collided with the Fast Biters, catching a few of them on her horns and sending the rest of them cascading to the earth. She swung her horns from side to side, in an attempt to hook any of the others. Out classed and now with half their pack dead, the Fast Biters retreated over the rocks and out of sight.

Cera panted, gasped for breath. She'd done it. She'd managed to fight off a pack of hungry predators. A swelling of pride formed in her heart. She could handle herself out here, no one would try to take on a three horn if they knew what was good for them. Daddy would be proud of her.

Pterano landed nearby. "Well," he said, folding his wings, "aren't you all lucky I arrived right as you needed me."

"Uncle Pterano!" Petrie descended and wrapped his wings around his uncle, embracing him in a big hug. "It's been too long since last saw you!"

"It has been long." Cera said. "How did you find us?"

"Hearing a Fast Biter pack attacking a Swimmer, a Three Horn, and a Spike Tail? Who else could it be except you? Although, I am wondering, where is Littlefoot?" Pterano asked.

"That's none of your business." Cera said.

"We looking for him. He left long ago. His grandpa sick, we try find Littlefoot." Petrie exposited.

"Petrie!" Cera shouted.

"Left? Now why would he do something like that?" Pterano asked.

"Reasons." Cera said before Petrie could speak. "Now, we were just leaving. Petrie, Ducky, Spike, time to go."

"Oh, don't be so harsh, Cera." Pterano said. "The Mysterious Beyond is a dangerous place for three sheltered little children like you."

"Children? If you haven't noticed, we're far from being those little kids you met years ago."

"Yes, yes." Pterano waved his hands dismissively in the air. "But you don't know what it's like out here. I offer myself to be you guide, and maybe even help you find your missing friend."


End file.
